Round Up for weekend of Saturday, 23rd October 2022

Saturday, 22th October 2022

Championship

Blackpool 4-2 Preston North End

In his first start of the season, CJ Hamilton scored his first goal of the season

Middlesbrough 0-0 Huddersfield Town

Darragh Lenihan was booked for the first time in two months

Reading 2-0 Bristol City

Shane Long assisted a goal for the first time this season, in his first appearance in seven weeks

Rotherham 2-4 Hull City

Cyrus Christie scored his first goal of the season

Sheffield United 2-2 Norwich City

Tony Springett's introduction was his first appearance in two months

Sunderland 2-4 Burnley

Luke McNally's introduction was his first appearance since Friday, 12th August

League 1

Lincoln City 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday

Sean Roughan's start was his 25th appearance for Lincoln City
Daniel Mandroiu scored his second goal in two games

Oxford United 1-2 Peterborough

Jack Taylor scored his tenth goal in League One

League 2

Carlisle United 2-3 Leyton Orient

Aaron Drinan scored his 15th goal in League Two

Crawley Town 3-2 Mansfield Town

Stephen Quinn was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Grimsby Town 0-0 Bradford City

Tyreik Wright was booked for the first time this season - this was the midfielder's first yellow card since January

Salford City 0-2 Stockport County

Paddy Madden scored his fifth goal of the season

Scottish Championship

Arbroath 1-0 Hamilton Academical

Daniel O'Reilly was sent off for the first time for Hamilton Academical

Dundee 0-0 Greenock Morton

Ian Lawlor's start was his first appearance of the season
Both Ryan Sweeney and Jaze Kabia were booked for the fifth time this season and both players are suspended for the next game

Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1-1 Raith Rovers

Zak Delaney made his first assist of the season

Sunday, 23rd October 2022

Championship

Swansea City 2-0 Cardiff

Michael Obafemi scored his 15th goal for Swansea City
Callum Robinson was sent off for the first time in his career

Watford 4-0 Luton Town

Louie Watson's first appearance since Tuesday, 9 August 2022(76 days)

Monday, 24 thOctober 2022

Premier League

West Ham United 2-0 Bournemouth

Mark Travers' introduction was his first appearance in eight weeks

Back underway for the second half and we've been forced into another change...

⬅️ Neto
➡️ Travers

Let's go, Travs 👐

46' | ⚒ 1-0 🍒 // #WHUBOU pic.twitter.com/5V41Nd0VFU

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) October 24, 2022

Round Up for week of Tuesday, 18th October 2022

Tuesday, 18 October 2022

Premier League

Crystal Palace 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Nathan Collins returned from suspension for his first appearance in a month

Championship

Huddersfield Town 0-1 Preston North End

Greg Cunningham scored his first goal of the season, this was the defender's first goal since February 2021!

Stoke City 0-1 Rotherham

Georgie Kelly was named in the Rotherham starting XI for the first time in two months

West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Bristol City

Dara O'Shea was booked for the first time in two months

Football League Trophy

Harrogate Town 2-1 Morecambe

Shane McLoughlin's start was his first appearance in a month

Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Tranmere Rovers

Lee O'Connor was booked for the first time this season

Bolton Wanderers 3-0 Leeds United U21

Cian Coleman's introduction was his first appearance in senior football

Port Vale 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers U21

Jimmy Storer's start for Wolves' U21 side was his first appearance in senior football

Stockport County 1-0 Shrewsbury Town

Aiden O'Brien was named in the Shrewsbury starting XI for the first time this season

Rochdale 2-2 Salford City

Liam Kelly marked his 50th appearance for Rochdale with his second goal in two games

Lincoln City 2-0 Newcastle United U21

Daniel Mandroiu scored his first goal for Lincoln City

Derby County 1-3 Manchester City U21

David McGoldrick scored his first goal since Saturday, 27th August

Walsall 0-2 MK Dons

Warren O'Hora assisted a goal for the first time since December 2020

Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Peterborough

Daryl Horgan scored his first goal of the season, more than a year after his previous goal, on Saturday, 2nd October 2021

Forest Green Rovers 4-1 Exeter City

Dominic Bernard was named in the Forest Green Rovers starting XI for the 100th time
Corey O'Keeffe scored his first goal for Forest Green Rovers

Leyton Orient 2-3 Chelsea U21

Shadrach Ogie's start was his 50th appearance for Leyton Orient

Cambridge United 1-0 Ipswich Town

Edwin Agbaje's start was his debut in football

Northampton Town 1-3 Arsenal U21

Jack Henry-Francis was booked for the first time this season

Wednesday, 19th October 2022

Championship

Birmingham City 1-1 Burnley

Scott Hogan scored his 30th goal for Birmingham City

QPR 3-0 Cardiff

Sinclair Armstrong was named in the QPR starting XI for the first time

Coppa Italia

Udinese 2-3 Monza

Festy Ebosele started a game for Udinese for the first time

Why John Egan's 30th Birthday Is A Watershed Moment In Irish Football

John Egan is 30 years old today, and not only is it a landmark day for the player, it is also a watershed moment for Irish football as a whole. For the first time since former international midfield player John Sheridan turned 30 in October 1994, there are no active Irish footballers under the age of 30 with 50, or more, appearances in the Premier League*

According to the database that powers the Irish Abroad website, there are 86 Irish players with 50, or more, appearances in the top division in England in total. Of these, 71 had reached the half century before their 30th birthday.

The graph below shows how many of these 71 players had reached 50 appearances on the 30th birthday of each player, starting with Sheridan's 30th birthday in 1994 on the left and ending on Egan's birthday today.

For example, on Kevin Kilbane's 30th birthday, in February 2007, there were 10 Irish players under 30 with 50, or more, Premier League appearances - Ian Harte(29, 213 apps), Andy O'Brien(27, 206), Damien Duff(27, 208), Clinton Morrison(27, 88), Richard Dunne(27, 230), Robbie Keane(26, 227), Gary Doherty(27, 84), Stephen McPhail(27, 78), Steven Reid(25, 81), and John O'Shea(25, 152).

The peak about two thirds across the graph is Daryl Murphy's 30th birthday in March 2013, when there were 17 players under 30 with 50 Premier League appearances. Since then, there has been a constant decline in the number of Irish players who meet the criteria. 

Of the current players, 27 year old Callum Robinson and 22 year old Aaron Connolly are the two Irish players under 30 with the most Premier League appearances, with 48 and 45 appearances respectively, but with Robinson currently in the Championship with Cardiff, and Connolly on loan in Italy with Venezia, both players will have to wait until the 2023/24 season kicks off next August, at the earliest, before they can reach 50 appearances. 

Of the current Irish players in the Premier League, Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Nathan Collins(21) has 27 Premier League appearances, and with 27 games remaining in Wolves' season, he is the player best positioned to be the next Irish player under 30 to reach 50 appearances in the competition.

*Note that there were Irish footballers under the age of 30 with more than 50 combined Premier League and old First Division appearances before Sheridan's 30th birthday, but we do not have appearance data for players before the start of the Premier League in 1992, so we're treating that as the starting point for this research

Thanks to the foot.ie forum member Eirambler for the post that inspired the research behind this article