Last Irish Player To Score For Each 2018/19 Premier League Club

With the new Premier League season only a few days away, we've planned a series of blogs this week based on Irish player appearances in the PL.

Before last season, we published an article with the list of the last Irish player to start a game in the Premier League for each of the teams in the top division.
Following on from that, we've compiled the following list of the last Irish player to score for each of the teams in the upcoming season.

Damien Duff and Robbie Keane hold the distinction of being the last Irish goalscorer for two different clubs - Duff for Chelsea against Newcastle in 2005 and Fulham against Wigan in 2012, and Keane for Liverpool against Bolton in 2008 and Spurs against Sunderland in 2009. Keane actually scored twice for Liverpool against Bolton that day - finding the back of the net on 53 and 58 minutes.

Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion, Cardiff, Huddersfield, and Leicester City have had no Irish goalscorers in the Premier League era, and with no Irish players named in the Arsenal, Huddersfield and Leicester squads (at the time of writing) this does not look like changing in the next 12 months.

Of the teams with one, or more, goalscorers, Watford fans have waited the longest to see another goalscorer from the Boys in Green. More than 18 years have passed since Limerick's Dominic Foley scored for the Hornets against Leeds in May 2000, although much is thought of teenage scoring sensation Ryan Cassidy in the current underage setup at Vicarage Road.

Club	Date	Home	Score	Away	Goalscorers
Bournemouth	18th November 2017	Bournemouth	4-0	Huddersfield	Harry Arter
Burnley	19th April 2010	Burnley	1-2	Chelsea	Kevin Long
Crystal Palace	2nd April 2016	West Ham United	2-2	Crystal Palace	Damien Delaney
Chelsea	19th November 2005	Chelsea	3-0	Newcastle Utd	Damien Duff
Everton	4th February 2017	Everton	6-3	Bournemouth	James McCarthy
Fulham	22nd September 2012	Wigan	1-2	Fulham	Damien Duff
Liverpool	26th December 2008	Liverpool	3-0	Bolton	Robbie Keane
Manchester City	21st November 2009	Liverpool	2-2	Manchester City	Stephen Ireland
Manchester United	27th March 2010	Bolton	0-4	Manchester United	Darron Gibson
Newcastle Utd	28th November 2017	West Bromwich Albion	2-2	Newcastle Utd	Ciaran Clark
Southampton	8th April 2010	Arsenal	3-2	Southampton	Shane Long
Tottenham	7th November 2009	Tottenham	2-0	Sunderland	Robbie Keane
Watford	3rd May 2000	Leeds United	3-1	Watford	Dominic Foley
West Ham United	30th January 2013	Fulham	3-1	West Ham United	Joey O'Brien
Wolverhampton Wanderers	25th February 2012	Newcastle Utd	2-2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Kevin Doyle

Irish Player Transfers, Loans and Contracts - June 2018

Transfers

Thursday, 10th May
Following his release from Oldham, Paul Green signed a one year contract with Crewe Alexandra: 🔗

Monday, 21st May
After two seasons at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, winger Jake Mulraney signed for Scottish Premiership side Hearts: 🔗

Tuesday, 22nd May
Derry City winger Ronan Curtis agreed a deal to join Portsmouth: 🔗

Wednesday, 23rd May
Following three years at Aston Villa, defender James Finnerty signed a two year deal with Rochdale AFC: 🔗

Friday, 25th May
Conor Dimaio left Chesterfield to sign for non-league Stockport County: 🔗

Thursday, 30th May
Noel Hunt returned to his native Waterford to sign for Waterford FC as player, and will also act as assistant to manager Alan Reynolds: 🔗

Tuesday, 5th June
After more than 100 appearances for Peterborough United, Chris Forrester signed a three year contract with Aberdeen: 🔗

Free agent David Meyler signed a two year contract with Reading FC: 🔗

Wednesday, 6th June
Daniel Devine signed a two year contract with Dunfermline Athletic: 🔗

Friday, 8th June
Niall Canavan bounced back after a season disrupted by injury to sign for Plymouth Argyle: 🔗

Cork City announced they had resigned Damien Delaney, who will return to his hometown club when his contract with Crystal Palace expires on July 1st: 🔗

Monday, 11th June
After more than 200 appearances for Southend United, former U21 midfielder Michael Timlin signed with League Two side Stevenage FC: 🔗

Tuesday, 12th June
Winger John O’Sullivan signed a one year contract with Blackpool, with the option of a further 12 months: 🔗

Wednesday, 13th June
Greg Cunningham signed for Cardiff City, bringing the number of Irish full backs in the Premier League to five: 🔗

Following his recent international debut, Graham Burke signed for Preston North End: 🔗

Thursday, 14th June
After two years at Aberdeen, Anthony O’Connor signed a three year contract with Bradford City: 🔗

Monday, 18th June
Winger Willo Flood signed a one year contract with Dunfermline Athletic: 🔗

Defender Sean McGinty joined Scottish Championship side Partick Thistle on a two year deal: 🔗

Tuesday, 19th June
Following the end of his contract with Ipswich, midfielder Stephen Gleeson signed a two year deal with Aberdeen: 🔗

Monday, 25th June
Dessie Hutchinson and Noe Baba returned to Ireland to sign for Hutchinson’s home town club, Waterford FC: 🔗

Tuesday, 26th June
23 year old defender Sean Long left Lincoln to sign a two year contract with Cheltenham Town: 🔗

Wednesday, 27th June
Former Ireland international Alan Maybury joined the backroom staff at former club St. Johnstone as youth coach: 🔗

Friday, 29th June
Shay Given joined Frank Lampard’s coaching team at Derby County as goalkeeping coach: 🔗

Loans

Thursday, 21st June
Samir Carruthers joined former manager Karl Robinson at Oxford United on a season long loan: 🔗

Friday, 29th June
Oxford United defender Fiacre Kelleher signed for Macclesfield Town on a season long loan: 🔗

Contracts

Monday, 14th May
Goalkeeper Danny Rogers signed a two year extension to his contract with Aberdeen: 🔗

Friday, 25th May
U18 defender Jack James signed his first professional contract with Luton Town: 🔗

Wednesday, 30th May
Shamir Fenelon signed a new one year deal with Aldershot Town: 🔗

Thursday, 31st May
Alan Sheehan extended his stay with Luton Town with a new two year contract: 🔗

Tuesday, 5th June
Sean Maguire was rewarded for an outstanding first season at Preston North End with a new three year contract: 🔗

Thursday, 14th June
Republic of Ireland teammates Katie McCabe and Louise Quinn both signed new contracts with Arsenal Women’s FC: 🔗

Monday, 25th June
Gillingham’s 2017/18 Player of the Season Mark Byrne signed a new two year deal with Gillingham, keeping him at Priestfield until 2020: 🔗

Friday, 29th June
Former Limerick FC defender Paudie O’Connor signed a two year deal with Leeds: 🔗

Southampton youth team players Aaron O’Driscoll and Jonathan Afolabi signed two and one year contracts, respectively, with the Saints: 🔗

Report Card for weekend of Saturday, 30th September 2017

Saturday, 30 September 2017

Premier League

Manchester United 4-0 Crystal Palace

Damien Delaney made his first start of the season

Stoke 2-1 Southampton

Shane Long's start against Stoke meant he started three consecutive games for Southampton for the first time since September 2016

Championship

Hull City 6-1 Birmingham City

David Meyler scored his tenth goal in the Championship in what was his 150th career start

Middlesbrough 2-2 Brentford

Darren Randolph was booked for the first time this season

Preston North End 2-2 Sunderland

Daryl Horgan made his 25th appearance for Preston North End
John O'Shea started his first game in more than a month

League 1

Blackburn 1-0 Gillingham

Mark Byrne was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Bristol Rovers 2-1 Plymouth

Rory Gaffney scored his tenth goal in League One
Graham Carey was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Portsmouth 1-2 Oldham

The first goal of Eoin Doyle's brace was his fifth goal for Oldham

League 2

Grimsby 0-0 Lincoln City

James McKeown made his 50th appearance in League Two

Forest Green 0-1 Accrington Stanley

Seamus Conneely scored his first goal of the season

Luton 3-1 Newport Co.

Joe Quigley made his first appearance in a month
Alan Sheehan reached a number of landmarks with his first goal of the season, it was also his fifth goal for Luton and the 25th goal of his career

Swindon Town 2-0 Cambridge United

Emmanuel Osadebe came off the bench to make his first appearance in a month

Wycombe Wanderers 3-1 Barnet

Michael Harriman made his 200th career start

Yeovil 0-1 Colchester

Sean Murray scored his first goal for Colchester in his 25th appearance in League Two. This was also the winger's first goal in League Two, and his first goal in just over a year, he last scored on Tuesday, 27 September 2016

Scottish Premier League

Aberdeen 3-0 St Johnstone

Joe Shaughnessy made his 100th appearance for St Johnstone
Graham Cummins made his 50th start for St Johnstone
Adam Rooney's hat trick was the eighth time the striker went home with the match ball in his career

Motherwell 3-0 Partick Thistle

Niall Keown made his 25th appearance for Partick Thistle
Adam Barton was booked for the first time this season

Polish Ekstraklasa

Wisła Kraków 0-0 Jagiellonia Białystok

Cillian Sheridan made his 25th appearance in the Polish League

Sunday, 1 October 2017

Premier League

Everton 0-1 Burnley

Robbie Brady made his 100th appearance in the Premier League
Jeff Hendrick's first goal of the season was the first time the midfielder scored since December 2016

Round Up - Week of Tuesday, 19th September 2017

Tuesday, 19th September 2017

English League Cup

Brentford 1-3 Norwich

Wes Hoolahan was booked for the first time this season

Burnley 2-2 Leeds United

Jeff Hendrick returned from injury for his first appearance since Saturday, 12th August

Bristol City 2-0 Stoke City

Callum O'Dowda made his 50th appearance for Bristol City

Crystal Palace 1-0 Huddersfield

Damien Delaney came off the bench to make his first appearance of the season

Bournemouth 1-0 Brighton and Hove Albion

Des Hutchinson's made his first appearance for Brighton and Hove Albion's senior side

Football League Trophy

Walsall 3-1 West Brom U21

Liam Kinsella made his first appearance since Wednesday, 9th August
Robert McCourt made his first appearance of the season

Wednesday, 20th September 2017

English League Cup

Everton 3-0 Sunderland

Darron Gibson was booked for the first time this season

Chelsea 5-1 Nottingham Forest

Stephen Henderson made his first appearance of the season, this was the goalkeeper's first appearance since February

January 2017 Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for January 2017:

Wins
Matt Doherty started four wins for Wolves in January, one more than any other player

Draws
Stephen Gleeson started three draws in the first month of 2017

Losses
Walsall's Anthony Forde started five losses in January, no other player started more than three

Starts/Completed Games
Forde and Doherty are two of seven players to start six games in January - Stephen Henderson, Damien Delaney, Richard Keogh, Liam Kelly, Conor Hourihane, Forde, and Doherty - with Henderson, Keogh, Doherty, and Hourihane completing 90 minutes in each one

Substitutions/Introductions
Forde was also substituted more than any other player, the winger was withdrawn from the action four times, the same number that James McClean and Shane Long were introduced from the bench

Stayed On Bench
Goalkeeper Jack Bonham was an unused substitute six times in January, while of the outfield players, QPR's U21 midfielder Olamide Shodipo was left on the bench in four games

Goals
Daryl Murphy, Shane Long and Anthony Pilkington scored three times in January, with all of both Murphy and Long''s goals coming in home games

Discipline
Aiden McGeady was the only player to be booked three times in January

Round Up - Week of 26th December 2016

Monday, 26 December 2016

Premier League

Watford 1-1 Crystal Palace
Damien Delaney was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Burnley 1-0 Middlesbrough
Stephen Ward was booked for the first time since the opening day of the season in what was the defender's 300th start in England
Jeff Hendrick was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Chelsea 3-0 Bournemouth
Harry Arter made his 200th career start

Swansea 1-4 West Ham United
Declan Rice was in the matchday squad at West Ham for the first time as an unused substitute

Championship

Brentford 2-2 Cardiff
Brian Murphy made his first appearance for Cardiff since signing for the Bluebirds in September, indeed this was his first appearance in a matchday squad for the club!

Aston Villa 2-1 Burton Albion
Damien McCrory made his 300th career appearance

Barnsley 2-0 Blackburn
Darragh Lenihan was sent off for the first time in his career

Ipswich 0-2 Fulham
Jonathan Douglas made his 50th start for Ipswich

Newcastle 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Keiren Westwood's performance for Sheffield Wednesday against Newcastle was recognised by WhoScored and EA as the among the best of the week's fixtures

ST @hazardeden10, @paulpogba and @LacazetteAlex in TOTW 15! https://t.co/gSqAcZfgOs pic.twitter.com/oreAAyrPnF

— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) December 28, 2016

Championship Team of the Week - Gameweek 23 https://t.co/7094SxKrhN pic.twitter.com/It3an5cko5

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) December 28, 2016

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 Bristol City
Joe Mason came off the bench to make his first appearance for Wolves since October 15th

League 1

Southend United 3-0 AFC Wimbledon
Simon Cox ended a goal drought of more than a month by scoring his first brace since November 2014, and his performance was recognised by the Football League as one of the best of the week

🌟 #EFL Team of the Week, with @EASPORTSFIFA 🌟

Our selection of stand-out stars from the Boxing Day schedule >> https://t.co/fGq4Mq8Kta. pic.twitter.com/S4SilFiN5O

— EFL (@EFL) December 28, 2016

Bristol Rovers 4-1 Coventry
Liam Lawrence made his first appearance for Bristol Rovers since August 30th

League 2

Leyton Orient 3-2 Crawley
James Collins was booked for the fifth time this season (his first booking in more than a month) and is suspended for the next game

Luton 0-1 Colchester
Owen Garvan was booked for the first time this season

Newport Co. 2-3 Portsmouth
On his 34th birthday, Noel Hunt made his first start for Portsmouth since November 5th
Enda Stevens scored his first goal for Portsmouth, 18 months after signing for Pompey in June 2015. This was the defender's first goal since February 2015

Yeovil 0-0 Exeter
Liam McAlinden was booked for the first time this season

Tuesday, 27 December 2016

Premier League

Liverpool 4-1 Stoke City
Jonathan Walters scored his 60th goal for Stoke

Championship

Brighton and Hove Albion 3-0 QPR
Shane Duffy made his 150th career start

Wednesday, 28 December 2016

Premier League

Southampton 1-4 Tottenham
Shane Long was picked up his second booking of the season, more than 100 days since his last booking on September 18th

Scottish Premier League

Inverness CT 1-2 Motherwell
Carl McHugh returned to the Motherwell starting XI for his first appearance the opening day of the season

St Johnstone 1-1 Rangers
Graham Cummins lined out for St Johnstone for the first time since October 29

First goalscorer

James McClean's goal against West Ham ended an unwanted streak for Irish players in the Premier League - before the Derry winger found the back of the net from close range, no Irish player had scored in the top division in England in the 2016/17 season.

This was also the first time none of the Boys in Green had found the back of the net in a Premier League game in August since 2010-11, when fans of the Irish team had to wait until the second of October for Jonathan Walters to end the run without a goal when he scored the winner for Stoke against former club Blackburn Rovers.

Season	First Goalscorer	Date
2006-2007	Kevin Doyle	23rd August 2006
2007-2008	Stephen Hunt	18th August 2007
2008-2009	Caleb Folan	16th August 2008
2009-2010	Stephen Ireland	15th August 2009
2010-2011	Jonathan Walters	2nd October 2010
2011-2012	Stephen Ward	13th August 2011
2012-2013	Damien Duff	18th August 2012
2013-2014	Seamus Coleman	17th August 2013
2014-2015	Aiden McGeady	16th August 2014
2015-2016	Damien Delaney	8th August 2015
2016-2017	James McClean	17th September 2016

Round up - Week of 17th May 2016

Tuesday, 17 May 2016
Championship Play Off Semi Final
Hull City 0-2 Derby County
Jeff Hendrick returned to the Derby County starting XI for the first time since 19th March, and was booked for the fifth time this season

Wednesday, 18 May 2016
League 2 Play Off Semi Final
Accrington Stanley 2-2 AFC Wimbledon
Seamus Conneely made his 50th start of the season

Friday, 20 May 2016
League 1 Play Off Semi Final
Millwall 1-1 Bradford City
Billy Clarke made his 25th start of the season

Saturday, 21 May 2016
English FA Cup
Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United
Damien Delaney was booked for the first time since 6th February

Scottish FA Cup
Rangers 2-3 Hibernian
Both braces scored by Anthony Stokes this season have come in the Scottish Cup
A summary of Conrad Logan's season:

• Released by Leicester City in the summer
• Signs a short term deal with Hibs in March
• Saves two penalties in the Scottish Cup semi final in his first game for Hibs in April
• Wins the Scottish Cup with Hibs for the first time in 114 years in May!

Irish Player Appearances in the Premier League 2015/16

Following the final whistle at the postponed game between Manchester United and Bournemouth at Old Trafford, and with it the completion of the Premier League 2015/16 season, we've started to compile the end of season appearance statistics for Irish players for the season, starting with the number of appearances for Irish players in the top division in England.

Player	Starts	Intro	Total
Glenn Whelan	37	0	37
Robbie Brady	34	2	36
James McClean	27	7	34
Damien Delaney	32	0	32
Wes Hoolahan	25	5	30
James McCarthy	29	0	29
John O'Shea	23	5	28
Shane Long	23	5	28
Seamus Coleman	27	1	28
Jonathan Walters	18	9	27
Robert Elliot	21	0	21
Harry Arter	21	0	21
Ciaran Clark	16	2	18
Eunan O'Kane	6	10	16
Stephen Ireland	0	13	13
Darron Gibson	2	5	7
Darren Randolph	6	0	6
Marc Wilson	1	3	4
Kevin Toner	3	1	4
Shay Given	3	0	3
Josh Cullen	0	1	1
Total	354	69	423

Unfortunately, it's bad news for fans of the boys in green, with five less players appearing in Premier League games, and the total appearances down almost 15% from 497 in the 2014/15 season to 423.

Between relegation, transfers, retirements, and Jack Grealish, 12 Irish players from the previous season did not appear in 2015/16, and were replaced by 7 players who didn't appear in the Premier League last season - James McClean, Wes Hoolahan, Harry Arter, Eunan O'Kane, Darren Randolph, Kevin Toner, and Josh Cullen.

Of the players that remained in the Premier League, five had more appearances than in 2014/15 - Robert Elliot, Glenn Whelan, Robbie Brady, Damien Delaney, and James McCarthy - with Newcastle's Player of the Season Robert Elliot taking advantage of the injury crisis at St James' Park  to play 18 more games, before unfortunately getting injured himself on international duty. Eight players played less games - Darron Gibson, Shane Long, Stephen Ireland, Jonathan Walters, Seamus Coleman, Ciaran Clark, John O'Shea, and Marc Wilson - with Wilson's injury hit season meaning he played 23 times less than in 2014/15

Following the relegation of Aston Villa, Newcastle and Norwich, their Irish players Ciaran Clark, Kevin Toner, Robert Elliot, Wes Hoolahan, and Robbie Brady (relegated for the second season in a row!) will all be plying their trade outside the top division next season, with Burnley's Stephen Ward and Kevin Long replacing them. Fellow promoted side Middlesbrough have no Irish players in their squad, while Play Off Finalists Hull City have David Meyler and Brian Lenihan facing off against Sheffield Wednesday's Keiren Westwood and loanee Aiden McGeady, who will be returning to parent club Everton following the end of the season.

One crumb of comfort is that the players who did appear in the Premier League this season played, on average, one game more than those in 2014/15

Round Up - Weekend of 15th April 2016

Friday, 15 April 2016
Championship
Hull City 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
David Meyler returned to the Hull starting XI for the first time since 8th March

Saturday, 16 April 2016
Premier League
Everton 1-1 Southampton
Darron Gibson returned to the starting XI for his first start since 9th January, this was also his first league start of the season. Remarkably, his booking today was the first time he'd been booked since September 2013 - it's been more than 900 days since his last yellow at club level!

Championship
Blackburn 0-2 Huddersfield
Shane Duffy and Darragh Lenihan were both booked for the tenth time this season. All of Lenihan's bookings this season have come in 2016.

Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Ipswich
David McGoldrick made his first for Ipswich start since 31st October

League 1
Coventry 2-1 Millwall
Shaun Williams was sent off for the third time for Millwall (fourth in his career), his last red card was in December 2014

Gillingham 0-2 Port Vale
John Egan made his first start since 13th February

League 2 
AFC Wimbledon 1-0 Crawley
Connor Smith was booked for the first time this season, after more than two years since his last booking in February 2014
Charles Dunne was booked for the first time this season, having not been booked since January 2015

Bristol Rovers 2-1 Yeovil
Rory Gaffney scored his tenth goal of the season, more than a month after his last goal

Portsmouth 1-2 Plymouth
Carl McHugh was booked for the tenth time this season

Stevenage 2-1 Newport Co.
Jake Mulraney scored his first goal for Stevenage, which was also the first goal of the season, and the first goal of his career! Congratulations Jake!

Scottish FA Cup
Hibernian 0-0 Dundee Utd
Conrad Logan made his first appearance since December 2014, after recently signing a short term deal with Hibs

Sunday, 17 April 2016
Premier League
Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace
Damien Delaney made his 150th appearance for Crystal Palace

Monday, 18 April 2016
Premier League
Stoke City 0-4 Tottenham
Shay Given made his first start since 22nd September, and his first league start since May!

Further Reading
DAVID SHONFIELD: Cesare Maldini: The Italian who turned defending into an art - Irish Examiner
Football clubs trawl social media for gaffes by transfer targets - The Guardian
"The future for the League of Ireland is to have academies" according to Ruud Dokter - Off The Ball

Round Up - Weekend of 2nd April 2016

Saturday, 2 April 2016
Premier League
West Ham United 2-2 Crystal Palace
Damien Delaney equaled his most goals scored in one season with his third of the season

Championship
Blackburn 1-2 Preston North End
Shane Duffy's red card in this game was the first time he was sent off in his career
After returning to the starting XI for Preston, Alan Browne has started as many games in 2015/16 for the Lilywhites (26) as in the previous two seasons combined (5 in 2013/14 and 21 in 2014/15)

Bolton 0-1 Reading
Stephen Quinn was booked for the third time this season in his twenty-fifth appearance of the season, but his performance was enough to include him in the WhoScored Championship Team of the Week

Championship Team of the Week - Gameweek 39 https://t.co/7094SxKrhN pic.twitter.com/VssdmME3GP

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) April 4, 2016

Hull City 4-0 Bristol City
Alex Pearce came off the bench for his first appearance since 23rd February, and was booked for the first time this season

Nottingham Forest 0-3 Brentford
Alan Judge made his one hundredth appearance for Brentford

Rotherham 2-1 Leeds United
Leon Best was booked for the first in more than two years, his last yellow card came in February 2014

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 Ipswich
David McGoldrick came off the bench for his first appearance since 12th December

League 1
Bradford City 1-0 Scunthorpe
Josh Cullen was booked for the fifth time this season

Chesterfield 4-2 Port Vale
Jay O'Shea scored his eighth goal of the season

Rochdale 2-2 Doncaster Rovers
Niall Canavan scored his first goal of the season

League 2
Bristol Rovers 3-0 Crawley
Liam Lawrence scored his first goal of the season, just over a year since his last strike in March 2015
Frankie Sutherland was booked for the first time since November 2014

Luton 0-1 Stevenage
Jake Mulraney made his first appearance for Stevenage and was booked for the first time this season

Scottish First Division
Dumbarton 0-0 Greenock Morton
Paul Heffernan made his first start for Dumbarton

Sunday, 3 April 2016
Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen 3-0 Hamilton Academical
Willo Flood returned from a hamstring injury for his first appearance in a month

Football League Trophy
Barnsley 3-2 Oxford United
Callum O'Dowda's eighth goal of the season in today's final will be some compensation for losing to Conor Hourihane's Barnsley

Australian A-League
Perth Glory 3-2 Melbourne City
Andy Keogh broke the A-League record with his eighth goal in consecutive games, which was also his tenth goal of the season

55' | Andy Keogh, take a bow son! That's 8 consecutive scoring games in a row, NEVER done before in this country! #PERvMCY #WestVsRest

— Perth Glory FC (@PerthGloryFC) April 3, 2016

Further Reading
Conor Hourihane: A Natural Born Leader - The Southern Star

176 - Jack Byrne gave more successful passes into the final third than any other Eredivisie player in 2016. Threat.

— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) April 2, 2016

January 2016 Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for January 2016: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=1

Wins

Defender Kevin Long won five games on loan at Barnsley, while fellow full back Stephen Ward returned to the Burnley side with four wins in January

Draws

West Brom's James McClean started more games that finished all square in January than any other Irish player, the winger drew four of the six games he started

Losses

Not a good month for defenders, with teammates Richard Keogh and Cyrus Christie losing four of their games in January, the same as fellow defender Damien Delaney, and midfielder Jack Byrne

Starts/Completed Games

Goalkeeper Ian Lawlor started seven games in January, split between his loans at Barnet and Bury, and completed 90 minutes in each one. Of the outfield players, Delaney, Long, Ward, McClean, Glenn Whelan and Samir Carruthers all started six games, with the defenders going on to play every minute of those games

Substitutions/Introductions

Striker Eoin Doyle was substituted more than any other player in January, the striker was withdrawn from the action in all five of the games he started. He's only completed 90 minutes in three of the fifteen games he's started so far in 2015/16. Midfielders Jeff Hendrick and Darragh Lenihan were introduced from the bench more than any other player, both players coming off the bench three times

Stayed on bench

Goalkeeper Jack Bonham and defender Niall Keown were both left on the bench for six games in January, Boham for four home and two away games, and Keown for three home and three away games

Goals

Jonathan Walters scored three goals in January, while Wes Hoolahan and Adam Rooney were the only players to score a penalty

Discipline

Carruthers was shown the most yellow cards in January, the MK Dons midfielder was booked four times in the seven games he appeared in

Weekend of 2nd January 2016 Round Up

Saturday, 2nd January 2016
Premier League
Norwich City 1-0 Southampton
This was Shane Long's third start in a row, before this he hadn't started more than two games in a row for Southampton in 2015/16. He hasn't started more than four consecutive games for the Saints since signing from Hull City.

West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Stoke City
Jonathan Walters came off the bench to score his fifth goal of the season for Stoke, and his first since his League Cup goal against Chelsea in October

Championship
Burnley 0-0 Ipswich
Stephen Ward second start in a row for Burnley, his first consecutive starts since December 2014, was his three hundredth career appearance in England

Cardiff 1-0 Blackburn
Joe Mason marked his return to the Cardiff starting XI (his first start since November 21st) with his first goal since October 3rd
Darragh Lenihan made his second appearance of the season for Blackburn Rovers, his last coming in a League Cup game against Shrewsbury in August

Leeds United 1-1 MK Dons
Darren Potter's start against Leeds was his two hundredth appearance for MK Dons

Preston North End 2-1 Rotherham
Similar to Joe Mason, Eoin Doyle's return to the Preston starting XI was also marked with a goal, in his case his first since scoring the winner against Nottingham Forest in November

League 1
Burton Albion 1-0 Blackpool
Colin Doyle returned to the Blackpool team after recovering from an ankle injury sustained playing for the Seasiders in the FA Cup against Barnet in early November

Chesterfield 7-1 Shrewsbury
Jay O'Shea made his one hundred fiftieth appearance for Chesterfield memorable by scoring his fourth and fifth of the season in this win. Coincidentally, his last goals for the Spireites was also a brace, against Millwall in August.

League 2
Notts County 2-4 Oxford United
U21 forward Callum O'Dowda scored his fifth goal of the season for Oxford

Scottish First Division
Dumbarton 0-6 Rangers
Robert Kiernan's start in this win for Rangers was his one hundredth career start

Sunday, 3rd January 2016
Premier League
Crystal Palace 0-3 Chelsea
Damien Delaney's booking this afternoon was his first of the season

Further Reading
Manchester City Loan Report (Part 1) (includes Jack Byrne) - In Good Kompany
Manchester City Loan Report (Part 2) (includes Ian Lawlor) - In Good Kompany

The contenders to make the Irish squad on Martin O’Neill’s friendly route to Euro 2016 - Irish Times

Report Card - 8th December 2015

Tuesday, 8th December 2015
Fleetwood Town 2-0 Morecambe
Winger Jimmy Ryan scored his first goal in almost three months, his last strike came on Saturday, September 12 against Bradford City

Oxford United 3-2 Yeovil Town
Fellow winger Callum O'Dowda scored his first goal since finding the back of the net against Ryan's former club Accrington Stanley on October 3rd

Further Reading
What exactly went wrong when Steve Finnan went to Espanyol?
Profile of an icon: Paul McGrath
Damien Delaney and Robbie Brady in the WhoScored list of most improved players
Euro 2016 - The Group E-ffect 

Irish Scorers weekend of 8th August 2015

8 August 2015 Barclays Premier League Norwich City 1-3 Crystal Palace Damien Delaney(48) Sky Bet League 1 Chesterfield 3-1 Barnsley Jay O'Shea(48) Conor Wilkinson(3) Gillingham 4-0 Sheffield United John Egan(81) Shreswsbury Town 1-2 Millwall Jim Collins(55) Sky Bet League 2 AFC Wimbledon 0-2 Plymouth Argyle Graham Carey(48) Bristol Rovers 0-1 Northampton Town John-Joe O'Toole(48) Cambridge United 3-0 Newport County AFC Barry Corr(23) Barry Corr(64) Scottish Premiership St Johnstone 1-1 Inverness CT Graham Cummins(89)

9 August 2015 Barclays Premier League Newcastle United 2-2 Southampton Shane Long(78) American MLS League Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 Seattle Sounders FC Robbie Keane(46) Scottish Premiership Aberdeen 2-0 Kilmarnock Adam Rooney(55, penalty)

3x3 Reds

The three red cards shown yesterday to Irish players Jack Grealish, Tommy Hoban and Lee Frecklington was the third time this season that three Irish players have been sent off in England. Previous to the current 2014/15 season, it had only happened at most twice in a single season
On the 28th December 2014, Hull City's Stephen Quinn, Southend United's Cian Bolger and Millwall's Shaun Williams were all shown red cards by the referee, while on two months earlier Willams was again given an early bath, alongside Birmingham City's Darren Randolph and Crystal Palace defender Damien Delaney.

Talking points

Is there anything more to be read into Jack Grealish's withdrawal from the U21 squad for their friendly on Thursday against Norway, other than his ongoing contract negotiations and a behind closed doors game for his club?
With Everton duo James McCarthy and Seamus Coleman both injured, what impact will their absence from the squad have in the two upcoming qualifiers?
Premier League defender Damien Delaney was omitted from the final squad for the qualifiers in favour of several players from the Championship - should he be involved, despite Crystal Palace's recent form?With Roy Keane's book being leaked, what (if any) repercussions will the revelations contained in it have in the current Ireland and Aston Villa setups?
Alan O'Brien made his first start for Millwall last weekend, can we expect to see the U21 striker progress to the senior international side in the near future?
Congratulations are in order for Hull City's Brian Lenihan on his call up to the senior internaitonal side, but are there other players with more recent playing experience (in England, Scotland and the League of Ireland) who deserved a call up?With his inexperience at this level, should he be given a run out against Gibraltar, to prepare for the following game against Germany?
Following Poland's seven goals against the Gibraltarians, what scoreline should Martin O'Neill's men be looking to get on Saturday?
Will Daryl Murphy's recent form mean his first Irish goal will come in the next two games?
Should key players be rested in what will surely be our easiest qualifier - at home against Gibraltar - so they can be ready for our toughest - away against Germany?