Here are the 37 Irish players handed a debut by Trapattoni during his five year reign, and the games in which they received their first cap.
Note: the numbers in brackets refer to the ranking of the side at the time of the game
| Date | Level | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Debut(s) |
|---|
| 24 May 2008 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(41) | 1-1 | Serbia(31) | Damien Delaney
Glenn Whelan |
| 29 May 2008 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(41) | 1-0 | Colombia(19) | Wes Hoolahan |
| 15 October 2008 | World Cup Qualifier | Republic of Ireland(38) | 1-0 | Cyprus(80) | Caleb Folan |
| 19 October 2008 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(36) | 2-3 | Poland(32) | Keith Andrews
Noel Hunt |
| 29 May 2009 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(34) | 1-1 | Nigeria(30) | Liam Lawrence
Kevin Foley
Leon Best
Eddie Nolan
Sean St Ledger |
| 12 August 2009 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(37) | 0-3 | Australia(16) | Keiren Westwood |
| 8 September 2009 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(38) | 1-0 | South Africa(73) | Darren O'Dea |
| 2 March 2010 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(37) | 0-2 | Brazil(2) | James McCarthy |
| 25 May 2010 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(43) | 2-1 | Paraguay(30) | Paul Green
Keith Fahey
Cilian Sheridan |
| 28 May 2010 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(41) | 3-0 | Algeria(30) | Greg Cunningham |
| 11 August 2010 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(36) | 0-1 | Argentina(5) | Keith Treacy |
| 17 November 2010 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(32) | 1-2 | Norway(12) | Jonathan Walters |
| 11 February 2011 | Carling Nations Cup | Republic of Ireland(35) | 3-0 | Wales(116) | Ciaran Clarke
Marc Wilson
Seamus Coleman |
| 24 May 2011 | Carling Nations Cup | Republic of Ireland(34) | 5-0 | Northern Ireland(65) | David Forde
Simon Cox
Stephen Ward |
| 29 February 2012 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(20) | 1-1 | Czech Republic(29) | James McClean |
| 11 September 2012 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(26) | 4-1 | Oman(93) | Darren Randolph
Robbie Brady
David Meyler
Alex Pearce |
| 6 February 2013 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(41) | 2-0 | Poland(56) | Conor Sammon
Jeff Hendrick
Richard Keogh |
| 2 June 2013 | Friendly | Republic of Ireland(39) | 4-0 | Georgia(96) | Stephen Quinn |
| 14 August 2013 | Friendly | Wales(46) | 0-0 | Republic of Ireland(44) | Paddy Madden |
| 6 September 2013 | World Cup Qualifier | Republic of Ireland(44) | 1-2 | Sweden(30) | Anthony Pilkington |
Of these, James McCarthy was the youngest player to make his first appearance, who was 19 years and three months when he came on against Brazil at Emirates Stadium. At the other end of the age scale, Galwegian David Forde was 31 when making his debut against Northern Ireland in the Carling Nations Cup.
Only two players made their debuts in competitive games - Caleb Folan and Anthony Pilkington, while Paddy Madden has the honour of being the only player given his first cap in an away game*
To compare with previous managers, Steve Staunton awarded 23 new caps during his reign, with no less than 11 of these coming in the same game - VS Ecuador in New York in 2007. During his tenure, Brian Kerr gave 15 players their first caps.
*Note that the games against Colombia, Nigeria, Brazil and Oman are treated as home games, as designated by their listing on fifa.com
