Three Premier League Debutants

On the opening day of the 2024/25 Premier League season, Ipswich Town played their first game in the top flight since they were relegated at the end of the 2001/02 season. In the second half, manager Kieran McKenna introduced Marcus Harness, who declared for Ireland in 2019, U21 midfielder Jack Taylor, and newly capped forward Sammie Szmodics from the bench. This was only the fourth time that three, or more, Irish players made their Premier League debut in the same game, and the first in fifteen years.

Wolves 0-2 West Ham, Saturday 15th August 2009
The last time this happened was in August 2009, when Wolves, managed by two-time Ireland manager Mick McCarthy,  started defenders Stephen Ward and Kevin Foley, and striker Andy Keogh as the old gold faced West Ham United in their first game in England's top division for five years.

Wimbledon 3-2 Bolton Wanderers, Saturday 19th August 1995
It had been thirteen years since the feat had occurred, when Bolton lost 3-2 to Wimbledon on the opening day of the 1995/96 season. This was Bolton's first game in the Premier League, and their first top level game in 15 years. Keith Branagan and Jason McAteer lined out for the Trotters in Selhurst Park, with future single capped player Owen Coyle coming on for the last six minutes of the game.

Ipswich Town 1-1 Aston Villa, Saturday, 15th August 1992
On the very first day of the Premier League in August 1992, when technically every player made their PL debut, Aston Villa started Paul McGrath and Steve Staunton in defence, with fellow Irish international Ray Houghton playing on the wing.

Coventry 2-1 Middlesbrough, Saturday, 15th August 1992
There's only one game where more than three Irish players made their Premier League debut. On the same day that Villa started three, Coventry faced Middlesbrough at Highfield Road, with defenders Chris Morris and Alan Kernaghan starting for Boro. They were joined in the second half by Bernie Slaven, who would go on to be the first Irish player to score in the Premier League four days later. Phil Babb lined out for Coventry, making this the only time four Irish players made their Premier League debut in the same game.

Further reading
Hammers ruin Wolves' return
Wimbledon 3-2 Bolton
Coventry City 2-1 Middlesbrough

Round Up for weekend of Saturday, 17th August 2024

Saturday, 17th August 2024

Premier League

Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool

Sammie Szmodics, Marcus Harness, and Jack Taylor made their first appearance in the Premier League, the first time three Irish players made their debuts in the top flight in the same game since Kevin Foley, Andy Keogh, and Stephen Ward made their first PL appearance in August 2009, for Wolves against West Ham

Arsenal 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Matt Doherty's start was his 150th appearance in the Premier League

Championship

Portsmouth 0-0 Luton Town

Chiedozie Ogbene's start was his 200th appearance in English football

Bristol City 4-3 Millwall

Sinclair Armstrong scored his first goal for Bristol City

Burnley 5-0 Cardiff

Callum Robinson's introduction was his 50th appearance for Cardiff

Sheffield United 2-2 QPR

Jimmy Dunne scored his first goal of the season

Watford 3-0 Stoke City

Andrew Moran made his first appearance for loan club Stoke City

League 1

Lincoln City 1-2 Barnsley

Paudie O'Connor assisted a goal for the first time since Saturday, 28th October 2023

League 2

Accrington Stanley 3-3 Harrogate Town

Seamus Conneely made his 350th appearance for Accrington Stanley

Bradford City 0-0 Salford City

Neil Byrne was booked for the first time since Friday, 22 December 2023

Port Vale 0-0 Tranmere Rovers

Ronan Curtis' start was the 200th time the forward was named in a starting XI in English football

Sunday, 18th August 2024

League 2

Notts County 2-2 Fleetwood Town

Mipo Odubeko was booked on his first appearance for Fleetwood Town

Scottish League Cup

Motherwell 1-0 Kilmarnock

Kieran O'Hara made his first start of the season - this was the goalkeeper's first start since Wednesday, 15th May 2024

Episode 73 - 2023/24: A season review

Myself, Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick, and Philip Flanagan of The Bottomless Pit of Football look back at the positives and negatives for Irish players over the 2023/24 season - what players impressed us, what events could shape the future of the game here, and what needs to be improved on?

Round Up for week of Tuesday, 26th September 2023

Tuesday, 26th September 2023

English League Cup

Ipswich Town 3-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Jack Taylor scored his first goal in seven weeks
Marcus Harness assisted three goal in one game - the first Irish player to do that in English football since Will Smallbone did so for Stoke against Sunderland in March 2023

Port Vale 2-1 Sutton United

Aiden O'Brien was booked for the first time this season

Bradford City 0-2 Middlesbrough

Alex Gilbert made his first appearance for Middlesbrough - this was the striker's first appearance in senior football since December 2021

Salford City 0-4 Burnley

Dara O'Shea scored his first goal for Burnley - just over a year after the defender's last goal on Saturday, 17th September 2022

Scottish League Cup

Kilmarnock 1-2 Hearts

Corrie Ndaba's introduction was his first appearance in five weeks

Football League Trophy

Barnsley 3-1 Manchester City U21

Conor McCarthy scored his first goal for Barnsley - this was the defender's first goal since April 2022

Burton Albion 2-0 Everton U21

Ryan Sweeney started a game for the first time in six weeks

Wednesday, 27th September 2023

English League Cup

Blackburn Rovers 5-2 Cardiff

Sammie Szmodics' introduction was his 50th appearance for Blackburn Rovers
Andrew Moran scored twice (including his first goal for Blackburn) and assisted twice in the same game - the first Irish player to score and assist more than one goal in the same game since Aaron Drinan for Leyton Orient against Hartlepool in October 2021
Callum Robinson scored his first goal of the season in his first start since February 2023

Scottish League Cup

Ross County 1-2 Aberdeen

Jonathan Hayes started a game for the first time in a month

Serie A

Napoli 4-1 Udinese

Festy Ebosele started a game Udinese for the tenth time - this was his 25th appearance for Udinese

Round up for week of Tuesday, 28th February 2023

Tuesday, 28th February 2023

Championship

Preston North End 0-0 Coventry

Alan Browne's start was his 300th appearance in the competition

League 1

Derby County 2-0 Cheltenham

Glen Rea was named in the Cheltenham starting XI for the first time, this was the player's first start in twelve months
This was the first time ten Irish players appeared in an English league game since 2006

Gary Kelly, Paul Butler, and Jonathan Douglas started for Leeds
Kenny Cunningham, Liam Miller, @graham_kavanagh, Daryl Murphy, and @MrDavidConnolly started for Sunderland, with @LiamLawrence07 and @SleevesElliott coming off the bench for the Black Cats in a 3-0 win

— Irish Abroad (@irish_abroad) February 28, 2023

Lincoln City 1-1 MK Dons

In his first start in a month, Daniel Mandroiu scored his fifth goal for Lincoln City

Portsmouth 3-1 Bolton Wanderers

Joe Rafferty made his first assist of the season

League 2

Gillingham 0-2 Bradford

Congratulations to Aiden O'Brien on reaching 350 career appearances with his start in this game

Hit the half way mark👊🏻... Honoured and proud to hit this milestone in my career. Just a kid from Islington, North London living his dream. Here’s to another 350🥳🙏🏼🙌🏻🥳 pic.twitter.com/i316i3Nwtc

— AidenObrien🤷🏼‍♂️ (@AidenObrien22) March 1, 2023

Harrogate Town 1-1 Northampton Town

William Hondermarck started a game for Northampton Town for the first time, this was his first start since Tuesday, 20 September

AFC Wimbledon 2-3 Stevenage

Daryl Horgan made his first start for Stevenage, his first start in two months

Tranmere Rovers 1-0 Crawley Town

Lee O'Connor started a game for Tranmere for the 100th time

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A post shared by Tranmere Rovers (@tranmererovers)

FA Cup

Stoke City 0-1 Brighton and Hove Albion

Evan Ferguson scored his first goal in the FA Cup, the youngest Irish goalscorer in the competition for 14 years

1️⃣4️⃣ At 18 years and 132 days old, @Evan_Ferguson9 is the youngest @FAIreland player to score in the @EmiratesFACup in fourteen years, since Sean Scannell scored for Crystal Palace against Leicester in January 2009 aged 18 years and 119 days#COYBIGhttps://t.co/Jeqi2Y6YFf

— Irish Abroad (@irish_abroad) February 28, 2023

Leicester City 1-2 Blackburn Rovers

Sammie Szmodics scored his fifth goal of the season

Wednesday, 1st March 2023

Burnley 1-0 Fleetwood Town

Michael Obafemi started a game for Burnley for the first time, almost four months after his last start on Saturday, 5 November
Josh Cullen's start was his 250th start in senior football
Cian Hayes was sent off for the first time in his career

Round Up for weekend of Friday, 24th February 2023

Friday, 24th February 2023

Eerste Divisie

NAC Breda 3-2 Dordrecht

Anselmo Garcia MacNulty's booking, his first in eight weeks, was the defender's fifth yellow card of the season

Saturday, 25th February 2023

Premier League

Bournemouth 1-4 Manchester City

In this game, Bournemouth became the first club to name two Republic of Ireland goalkeepers as substitutes in a Premier League game

📝 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 📝

🔺 One change
🔺 Mepham comes in
🔺 Tavernier ruled out

We're all set for #BOUMCI 👊👊 pic.twitter.com/pjYeT0ygt0

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) February 25, 2023

Championship

Burnley 4-0 Huddersfield Town

Michael Obafemi scored his fifth goal of the season

Preston North End 2-1 Wigan

Tom Cannon scored his first goal for loan club Preston North End
Robbie Brady was shown his first red card since Wednesday, 2nd January 2019
Alan Browne assisted a goal for the first time since Monday, 2nd January

QPR 1-3 Blackburn Rovers

Sammie Szmodics scored his tenth goal in the Championship

Stoke City 0-1 Millwall

Dan McNamara was booked for the first time in seven weeks

League 1

Barnsley 4-1 Derby County

Eiran Cashin was named in the Derby County starting XI for the 50th time
David McGoldrick scored his 20th goal in League One

Exeter City 2-0 Cambridge United

Pierce Sweeney assisted a goal for the first time since Tuesday, 9th August

MK Dons 0-1 Ipswich Town

Darragh Burns second half introduction was his first appearance in a month, the midfielder was also booked for the first time this season

Portsmouth 4-0 Cheltenham

In his first start in a month, Ronan Curtis scored his first goal since Tuesday, 1st November
Glen Rea made his first appearance of the season, almost a year since his last appearance on Saturday, 5th March 2022

League 2

Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Rochdale

Jimmy Keohane scored his first goal of the season

Doncaster Rovers 0-1 Bradford City

In his first start in a month, Dara Costelloe was booked for the first time this season
Emmanuel Osadebe's introduction was his first appearance in seven months

Gillingham 2-1 AFC Wimbledon

Conor Masterson was booked for the first time this season, eleven months after his last book in March 2022

Scottish Premiership

Kilmarnock 1-1 Motherwell

Dan Casey was booked for the first time this season

St Johnstone 1-1 St Mirren

Joe Shaughnessy' made his first assist since Saturday, 1st October

Scottish Championship

Hamilton Academical 1-4 Queen's Park

Daniel O'Reilly's start was his 50th appearance for Hamilton Academical

Sunday, 26 February 2023

MLS

Austin FC 2-3 Unknown Club

On the opening day of the 2023 MLS season, Jon Gallagher scored his fifth goal for Austin FC

That man @JonGallagher96 knows how to get @Q2Stadium rocking! 🎸 pic.twitter.com/UaUWOXLBOL

— Austin FC (@AustinFC) February 26, 2023

Monday, 27 February 2023

Championship

Swansea City 1-1 Rotherham

In his 125th appearance for Rotherham, Chiedozie Ogbene scored his first goal since Saturday, 10th December

MLS

Seattle Sounders FC 4-0 Colorado Rapids

Connor Ronan made his first appearance for Colorado Rapids

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A post shared by Colorado Rapids (@coloradorapids)

Round Up for week of Tuesday, 4th October 2022

Tuesday, 4th October 2022

Championship

Sheffield United 0-1 QPR

Jimmy Dunne was booked for the first time in seven weeks in was was his 50th start for QPR

Cardiff 1-0 Blackburn Rovers

Sammie Szmodics was booked for the first time this season in his first start in six weeks

Reading 1-1 Norwich City

Jeff Hendrick scored his first goal for Reading, the was also his first goal in more than a year, and the 40th goal of his career

League 1

Cheltenham 1-0 Bolton Wanderers

Will Ferry's start was his 50th career appearance

Scottish Premiership

Ross County 0-5 Motherwell

Ross Tierney made his 25th appearance for Motherwell

Football League Trophy

Harrogate Town 1-1 Everton U21

In his first start for Harrogate, Danny Grant scored his first goal for the Sulphurites

Tranmere Rovers 3-5 Leeds United U21

Neil Byrne scored his first goal for Tranmere Rovers
Lee O'Connor assisted a goal for the first time this season

Bristol Rovers 2-0 Crystal Palace U21

Trevor Clarke scored his first goal for Bristol Rovers
Glenn Whelan was sent off for the second time for Bristol Rovers, eleven months after his last red card in November 2021

Portsmouth 5-0 Aston Villa U21

Ronan Curtis scored his fifth goal of the season

Wednesday, 5th October 2022

Championship

Hull City 2-1 Wigan

Cyrus Christie started a game for the first time in five weeks
Will Keane scored his fifth goal of the season

Middlesbrough 1-0 Birmingham City

Darragh Lenihan's introduction was his first appearance since Tuesday, 30th August

Rotherham 1-1 Millwall

Dan McNamara was named in the Millwall starting XI for the first time since Tuesday, 30th August

Watford 1-2 Swansea City

Michael Obafemi started a game for the first time in six weeks

Preston North End 1-0 West Bromwich Albion

Sean Maguire started a game for the first time this season

Champions League

RB Leipzig 3-1 Celtic

James McCarthy's introduction was his first appearance in the Champions League, the 27th Irish player to appear in the competition.

2️⃣ 2022/23 is the first season that two @FAIreland players (@JMcCarthy_16 and @mattdoherty20) have appeared in the @ChampionsLeague proper since 2010/11, when Robbie Keane, John O'Shea, Darron Gibson, and Aiden McGeady all made at least one appearance in the competition#COYBIG

— Irish Abroad (@irish_abroad) October 5, 2022

Irish Player Transfers, Loans, and Contracts for August 2022

Transfers

Monday, 1st August

26 year old central midfielder Sammie Szmodics signed a three year contract with Blackburn Rovers

Tuesday, 2nd August

Youssef Al-Mahdi signed a three year contract with Egyptian second division side Olympic Alexandria

Wednesday, 3rd August

Following a trial period at the end of last season, Sean Grehan signed a two year contract with Crystal Palace academy

Free agent Kieran O'Hara signed a twelve month contract with Colchester United

Thursday, 4th August

Winger Sean Robertson signed a contract with Forest Green Rovers

Friday, 5th August

Jonathan Afolabi returned to Ireland from Celtic, signing for Bohemians

Tuesday, 9th August

U21 midfielder Will Ferry signed for League One side Cheltenham Town

Ola Lawal, brother of Celtic's Bosun Lawal, signed a one year deal with Falkirk, with the option of a further 12 months

Wednesday, 10th August

Having started his career in the Ipswich Town academy, Richard Keogh returned to Portman Road, signing a 12 month contract with the Tractor Boys

Ahead of the new Women's Super League season, Diane Caldwell signed for Reading Women

Friday, 12th August

Daniel Devine signed a one year contract with Chester FC

Creative midfielder Conor Tee signed for AFC Rushden and Diamonds

Saturday, 13th August

Defender Claire O'Riordan signed for Celtic FC women

Former Falkirk academy player Ceiran Dunne returned to Scotland following his release by Sunderland to sign for Scottish Championship side Cove Rangers

Sunday, 14th August

Former U21 goalkeeper Danny Rogers returned to Ireland to sign for St Patrick's Athletic

Friday, 19th August

Jordan McEnedd returned to home town Derry to sign for Derry City until the end of the current League of Ireland season

Friday, 26th August

Cyrus Christie signed a two year contract, with the option of a further 12 months, with Hull City

Monday, 29th August

Blackpool announced that defender Andy Lyons will join the Seasiders in January 2023 after signing a three year contract, with the option of a further 12 months

Peamount player Teagan Ruddy signed for Swiss side FC Sion

buzzing to sign my first professional contract with @FCSion, waited a long time for this and can’t wait to get going🔴⚪️

Thank you for everything @peamountutd it’s been a pleasure💚 pic.twitter.com/tgpxI4GUQu

— Tiegan Ruddy (@tieganruddy) August 29, 2022

Monday, 29th August

Callum Robinson signed a three year contract with Cardiff City

Goalkeeper Conor Brann signed for Swindon Town

Winger Anthony Scullly made the step up from League One to Championship, signing a three year deal with Wigan Athletic

Former Ireland U19 midfielder Alex Hunt joined former loan club Grimsby Town, signing a contract with the Mariners until 2025

UCD defender John Ryan signed for Serie A side Sassuolo

Congratulations to former Aisling Annacotty player, John Ryan, on joining Italian 🇮🇹 Serie A Team Sassuolo. John has also played for Ireland 🇮🇪 underage teams over the last few years. The Club is very proud of his achievements 👏 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/ryOMmkDtI0

— Aisling Annacotty AFC (@aislingannafc) September 1, 2022

Full back Alex Healy-Byrne signed for Burnley, and will play for their U21 side in the Professional Development League

Daniel Okwute joined Stockport County from Kerry FC, signing a a contract until 2024

Loans

Monday, 1st August

Mazeed Ogungbo joined his former Arsenal underage coach Kevin Betsy at Crawley Town on a season long loan

Wednesday, 3rd August

Jamie McGrath returned to Scotland, signing a season long loan with Dundee United

Friday, 5th August

Shane Duffy will spend the 2022/23 season on loan at Fulham

Jamie Egan signed a one month youth loan with Gloucester City

Tuesday, 9th August

Deji Sotona signed a one year loan deal with Kilmarnock

Friday, 12th August

Preston North End defender Josh Seary signed a three month loan deal with non-league Warrington Town

Thursday, 18th August

U21 defender Mark McGuinness signed a one season loan deal with Sheffield Wednesday

Friday, 19th August

Former U18 defender Corrie Ndaba signed for Burton Albion on loan for the 2022/23 season

Wolves goalkeeper Joe O'Shaughnessy signed a loan deal with Bradford City until the end of the season

Saturday, 20th August

Celtic striker Johnny Kenny signed a season loan deal with Scottish Championship side Queen's Park

Friday, 26th August

U21 defender Jake O'Brien signed for Belgian second division side Racing White Daring Molenbeek on loan for the 2022/23 Belgian season

Monday, 29th August

Rotherham striker JJ Kayode joined MK Dons on a season long loan

Tuesday, 30th August

After making his senior debut for West Ham against Viborg, Armstrong Okoflex signed for Swansea on loan until the end of the season

Thursday, 1st September

Tyreik Wright signed his fourth loan deal in League Two, joining Bradford City until the end of the season

Danny Grant signed for Harrogate Town on loan

Contracts

Monday, 1st August

Following their promotion to the Women's Super League last season, Liverpool Women's team captain Niamh Fahey extended her stay with the Reds

Thurday, 11th August

Highly rated winger Andrew Moran signed a new three year contract with Brighton and Hove Albion

Monday, 15th August

Danny McNamara signed a new long term contract with Millwall

Friday, 19th August

Ronan Maher signed his first professional contract with Walsall FC, signing with the Saddlers until 2025

Warren O'Hora extended his contract with MK Dons until June of 2023

Saturday, 20th August

Ahead of the new Women's Championship season, Naoisha McAloon was rewarded for her performances with Durham FC with a new contract

Sunday, 21st August

Striker Tom Cannon signed a contract with Everton until the summer of 2025

Tuesday, 23rd August

Former U19 defender Harvey Neville signed a contract with Inter Miami until the end of the 2024 MLS season

Friday, 26th August

U19 striker Calum Kavanagh extended his contract with Middlesbrough until the summer of 2025

Management

Friday, 5th August

Andy Reid was promoted to Nottingham Forest's senior coaching staff

Friday, 19th August

Marie Hourihan was appointed interim head coach of London Bees

Wednesday, 25th August

Following the departure of youth team coach Tommy McIntyre, Darren O'Dea has been promoted to joint coach of Celtic's youth teams, with Stephen McManus

Summer 2022 Transfer Window

Irish Player Transfers, Loans, and Contracts for July 2022
Irish Player Transfers, Loans, and Contracts for May/June 2022

Round Up for Weekend of Friday, 1st October 2021

Friday, 1st October 2021

Eerste Divisie

AZ II 2-1 Dordrecht

Liam Bossin was booked for the first time this season

Saturday, 2nd October 2021

Premier League

Burnley 0-0 Norwich

Nathan Collins' start was his first appearance in the Premier League

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Newcastle United

Ciaran Clark was booked for the first time this season
Jeff Hendrick scored his first goal of the season - his first goal since Wednesday, 16 December 2020 - and joined some exalted company in Newcastle history

3 - Jeff Hendrick is only the third Newcastle player to score in the first-half of a Premier League match as substitute, after Gary Speed vs Coventry City in September 1998 and Nolberto Solano vs Wimbledon in November 1998. Haste. pic.twitter.com/hBOBEsw7nB

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 2, 2021

Championship

Cardiff 0-1 Reading

Mark McGuinness was booked for the first time this season

Derby County 0-0 Swansea

Festy Ebosele's second half introduction was his first appearance in seven weeks

Hull City 2-0 Middlesbrough

Sean McLoughlin came off the bench for his first appearance of the season

Luton 0-0 Huddersfield

Glen Rea was booked for the first time in six weeks

Peterborough 2-3 Bristol City

Callum O'Dowda was named in the starting XI for the first time in two months
Sammie Szmodics' brace was his first goals of the season

QPR 3-2 Preston North End

Jimmy Dunne scored his first goal of the season, and his first strike for QPR, more than a year after his last goal, scored in September 2020

League 1

Accrington Stanley 2-1 Ipswich

Seamus Conneely was booked for the first time this season

Gillingham 0-2 Wigan

Will Keane scored his fifth goal of the season
James McClean made his first assist of the season - his first assist since Tuesday, 19th January 2021

Lincoln City 2-2 Plymouth Argyle

Anthony Scully scored his 30th goal for Lincoln, in only his 73rd appearance for the Imps!

Portsmouth 4-0 Sunderland

Ronan Curtis was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game
Both Gavin Bazunu and Shaun Williams were named in the Portsmouth starting XI for the tenth time
Marcus Harness marked his 100th appearance for Portsmouth with his third goal of the season

💯 Blues appearances for @MarcusHarness#Pompey pic.twitter.com/qcbV30VKMJ

— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) October 2, 2021

Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Oxford United

Anthony Forde was named in the Oxford starting XI for the 50th time

Wycombe Wanderers 4-3 Morecambe

Daryl Horgan scored his first goal of the season - 13 months after his last goal, on Sunday, 6 September 2020

League 2

Colchester 0-2 Salford City

Corrie Ndaba made his 25th career start

Exeter 2-2 Walsall

Pierce Sweeney assisted a goal for the first time this season
Stephen Ward was booked for the first time this season

Mansfield Town 0-1 Barrow

Harry Charsley was booked for the first time this season in his first start in a month

Northampton 0-2 Sutton United

Michael Harriman's first appearance since Tuesday, 31 August 2021(33 days)

Scottish Premier League

St Johnstone 3-1 Dundee

Ryan Sweeney scored his first goal of the season, his first goal for Dundee

Scottish Championship

Greenock Morton 2-2 Arbroath

Oisin McEntee was booked for the first time this season

Sunday, 3rd October 2021

Scottish League One

Queen's Park 1-1 Montrose

Luca Connell was named in the starting XI for the first time in eight weeks

MLS

Montreal Impact 2-1 Atlanta United

Jake Mulraney scored his first goal in almost a year, his last goal came on Thursday, 15th October 2020