Players to score in all four divisions in england

After breaking his Premier League duck against Norwich last weekend, Conor Hourihane reached a rare career milestone - scoring in each of the four divisions in England.

We only have comprehensive appearance data going back to the 2005-06 season, but we still managed to compile this list of players who managed the feat since then

1. David Connolly
Beginning his career at Watford, Connolly had scored for the Hornets in what was then known as Division 1 and Division 2, now the Championship and League One, before securing a move to Feyenoord. Following his return from the Netherlands, he scored for Wimbledon, West Ham, and Leicester in the Championship before a move to Wigan was quickly followed by his first Premier League goal in 2005-06 season. Connolly would go on to complete the quadruple by scoring four goals in League Two in his final season as a professional footballer for Portsmouth

2. Clinton Morrison
After scoring in his first appearance for Crystal Palace in the Premier League during the 1997-98 season, Morrison went on to score in the then-First Division for the Eagles. Morrison would also score for Birmingham in the Premier League, before returning to the South London side after four seasons. Following a move to Sheffield Wednesday in 2010, Morrison would collect strikes in League One, before finishing his career in 2015-16 with Exeter in League Two, with a single strike in the division

3. Gary Doherty
After scoring 12 times in three seasons in the Second Division with Luton, Doherty was brought to the Premier League by Tottenham Hotspur, where he scored four times across six seasons before moving to Norwich, for whom he scored three goals in the Championship. Following two seasons with Charlton in League One, the Donegal born player retired after two seasons in League Two with Wycombe, scoring twice in the 2012-13 season

4. Noel Hunt
After two seasons in the League of Ireland, and six in Scotland, Hunt scored his first goal in English football in the Championship with Reading in the 2008-09 season. The Waterford-born striker would also score twice in the Premier League for the Royals. Following moves to Leeds, Ipswich and Southend, where he scored four times in League One, he completed the achievement with a single strike for Portsmouth in League Two in the 2016-17 season

5. Stephen Elliott
After only two appearances for Manchester City in the Premier League, Elliott went on to score 22 league goals (20 in the Championship, 2 in the Premier League) for Sunderland in 81 league appearances on Wearside. Two goals in a loan spell at Norwich in League One in 2009-10 were followed in 2014-15 with a single strike in League Two for Carlisle 

6. Liam Lawrence
Lawrence began his career with Mansfield Town, where he scored in both the old Third and Second Division. A move to Sunderland in the 2004-05 season was followed with goals in the Championship and Premier League for the Black Cats

7. Sean Thornton
Thornton performances in the Second Division with Tranmere Rovers during the 2001-02 season, where he scored once, earned him a move the Premier League with Sunderland. He scored his only goal in the top division against Chelsea in April 2003 before scoring four times in the First Division the following season, following Sunderland's relegation. After three seasons in League One with Doncaster and Leyton Orient, Thornton scored for Shrewsbury in League Two during a loan spell at New Meadow

8. Kevin Kilbane
Beginning his career with local side Preston North End, Kilbane scored in both the third and second divisions for the Lilywhites before moving to West Brom, where his 15 goals in the First Division helped him secure a move to Premier League side Sunderland. Kilbane went on to score eight times for the Black Cats in the PL, before a moves to Everton, Wigan, and Hull, for whom he would score four, two, and one goals in the division, respectively

9. Steve Finnan

Finnan started his career in the youth setup at Wimbledon, and signed for non-league Welling on his release. Birmingham City offered him a professional contract, and he went on to score for the Blues in the First Division. After scoring for Notts County in the Second Division while on loan, he made a permanent move to Meadow Lane where he also scored in the Third Division. A move to Fulham meant more goals in the Second and First Divisions, but he didn't score his only goal in the Premier League until a year after his move to Liverpool in the 2003-04 season

10. Keith Andrews

Andrews had already made his Wolves debut before he scored his first senior goal on loan at Oxford in the Second Division. His second league goal was also on loan, this time with Walsall in the First Division. Andrews notched his first goal in League Two with MK Dons after his move in the 2006-07 season. Three years later, his manager with the Dons, Paul Ince, took him to the Premier League where he would go on to five league goals for the Lancashire side, followed by two more for West Brom

Notes
Each player also scored in both the League Cup and FA Cup, apart from Thornton and Andrews, both of whom never scored in the FA Cup, and Finnan who never scored in the League Cup
All players, except for Thornton and Hunt, have also scored at international level, however Hunt also scored in the Scottish Premier League, and in both Scottish Cups

Republic of Ireland Premier League Starting XI

While researching yesterday's article on Irish starting XI's of players with Premier League experience, we wondered how many times the Republic of Ireland started a game with eleven players who were under contract at a club in the PL at that time.

As we said in the article, the Boys in Green have played 269 games since the breakaway league was formed in 1992. According to our research, of these, only eight (3% of the total amount) of these were started by eleven players who were all playing Premier League football at the time. As always, we are open to correction on this.

When we investigated this, we realised that, in the early years of the league, squad mainstays like Packie Bonner and John Aldridge never played in England's top division, and in more recent years Robbie Keane's time in MLS as well as Sean St Ledger's time in the Irish starting XI meant that there was a narrow window where regular starters for Ireland were all playing in the PL.

Even though the first game of the league was played in 1992, it took nine years before an Irish manager named a starting XI of players from the league. Mick McCarthy had the honour of being the first Irish manager to name 11 Premier League players to face Portugal in 2001 for a qualifier for the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. A year later, in August, he would repeat the feat in a 3-0 friendly win against Finland following the tournament.

Brian Kerr has named a team of players in the Premier League in five games, more than any of the other managers since the league was formed, four of which were in 2005. The last time an Irish manager named a starting XI of Premier League players was Steve Staunton's first competitive game against Germany in 2006 - 130 games have been played since that 1-0 loss in Stuttgart.

No player started all eight games, but Shay Given, Kevin Kilbane, Damien Duff, and Robbie Keane started seven of the eight, while John O'Shea, Steve Finnan, and Kenny Cunningham started six.

Of the eight games, three finished all square, there are three wins (although only one of these was in a competitive game) and two were losses.

Date	Home	Score	Away	Starting XI
2-June-2001	Republic of Ireland	1-1	Portugal	Shay Given(Newcastle Utd) Ian Harte(Leeds United) Steve Staunton(Aston Villa) Richard Dunne(Manchester City) Stephen Carr(Tottenham) Kevin Kilbane(Sunderland) Roy Keane(Manchester United) Mark Kinsella(Charlton) Gary Kelly(Leeds United) Niall Quinn(Sunderland) Robbie Keane(Leeds United)
21-August-2002	Finland	0-3	Republic of Ireland	Dean Kiely(Charlton) Ian Harte(Leeds United) Gary Breen(West Ham United) Kenny Cunningham(Birmingham City) Gary Kelly(Leeds United) Thomas Butler(Sunderland) Mark Kinsella(Charlton) Lee Carsley(Everton) Jason McAteer(Sunderland) Damien Duff(Blackburn) Robbie Keane(Leeds United)
9-October-2004	France	0-0	Republic of Ireland	Shay Given(Newcastle Utd) Kevin Kilbane(Everton) Kenny Cunningham(Birmingham City) Andy O'Brien(Newcastle Utd) Stephen Carr(Newcastle Utd) Damien Duff(Chelsea) John O'Shea(Manchester United) Roy Keane(Manchester United) Steve Finnan(Liverpool) Clinton Morrison(Birmingham City) Robbie Keane(Tottenham)
9-February-2005	Republic of Ireland	1-0	Portugal	Shay Given(Newcastle Utd) Kevin Kilbane(Everton) Andy O'Brien(Newcastle Utd) Kenny Cunningham(Birmingham City) John O'Shea(Manchester United) Damien Duff(Chelsea) Andy Reid(Tottenham) Matt Holland(Charlton) Steve Finnan(Liverpool) Clinton Morrison(Birmingham City) Robbie Keane(Tottenham)
26-March-2005	Israel	1-1	Republic of Ireland	Shay Given(Newcastle Utd) John O'Shea(Manchester United) Andy O'Brien(Newcastle Utd) Kenny Cunningham(Birmingham City) Stephen Carr(Newcastle Utd) Kevin Kilbane(Everton) Roy Keane(Manchester United) Steve Finnan(Liverpool) Damien Duff(Chelsea) Clinton Morrison(Birmingham City) Robbie Keane(Tottenham)
17-August-2005	Republic of Ireland	1-2	Italy	Shay Given(Newcastle Utd) Kenny Cunningham(Birmingham City) John O'Shea(Manchester United) Richard Dunne(Manchester City) Steve Finnan(Liverpool) Damien Duff(Chelsea) Kevin Kilbane(Everton) Matt Holland(Charlton) Steven Reid(Blackburn) Andy Reid(Tottenham) Clinton Morrison(Birmingham City)
8-October-2005	Cyprus	0-1	Republic of Ireland	Shay Given(Newcastle Utd) John O'Shea(Manchester United) Kenny Cunningham(Birmingham City) Richard Dunne(Manchester City) Stephen Carr(Newcastle Utd) Damien Duff(Chelsea) Kevin Kilbane(Everton) Graham Kavanagh(Wigan) Steve Finnan(Liverpool) Stephen Elliott(Sunderland) Robbie Keane(Tottenham)
2-September-2006	Germany	1-0	Republic of Ireland	Shay Given(Newcastle Utd) John O'Shea(Manchester United) Andy O'Brien(Portsmouth) Richard Dunne(Manchester City) Stephen Carr(Newcastle Utd) Damien Duff(Newcastle Utd) Steven Reid(Blackburn) Kevin Kilbane(Wigan) Steve Finnan(Liverpool) Kevin Doyle(Reading) Robbie Keane(Tottenham)

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