Eligibility Rules, Okay

[tetsujin1979]

That's very considerate, they must have buried the hatchet after all.
who and why?

[DannyInvincible]

who and why?

Jim Magilton. He's been given the role of "elite performance director" by the IFA: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12040/8786997/Northern-Ireland-appoint-Jim-Magilton-as-elite-performance-director

[tetsujin1979]

Jim Magilton. He's been given the role of "elite performance director" by the IFA: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12040/8786997/Northern-Ireland-appoint-Jim-Magilton-as-elite-performance-directorah, I see. now, was that so hard?

[ArdeeBhoy]

It was more fun guessing.

After all if you read recent posts, it could also have been attributed to two different 'Robinsons'.
Neither of whom, are the First Minister even...

[geysir]

I missed this one at the time it happened.
Gabon were sanctioned by FIFA for using an ineligible Cameroon born player, Charly Moussono, in their team.
I think Charly had fulfilled residency and nationality requirements to declare for Gabon, but was busted because he had previously played for Cameroon at senior A level ....... beach soccer.:rolleyes:
Gabon Sanctioned For Using Ineligible Player (http://www.africansportstv.com/view_more.php?v_more=3054&cat_id=SOCCER)

[DannyInvincible]

I missed this one at the time it happened.

You sure?: http://foot.ie/archive/index.php/t-147164-p-95.html

You made a post just four posts after the story was highlighted here.

[geysir]

Do you doubt my word or my memory? :)
Just because I was alive and present doesn't mean I caught the story.
I see just around the same time, someone had diverted my attention by actually inviting EG to comment on some questions.
When there was a possible clear and present danger to the thread of a verbiage avalanche, of the extreme waffly variety --- you can understand there was a more serious issue than effin' 'beach soccer'.

[Sullivinho]

Do you doubt my word or my memory? :)
Just because I was alive and present doesn't mean I caught the story.
I see just around the same time, someone had diverted my attention by actually inviting EG to comment on some questions.
When there was a possible clear and present danger to the thread of a verbiage avalanche, of the extreme waffly variety --- you can understand there was a more serious issue than effin' 'beach soccer'.

Effin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effin) is in Limerick, nowhere near the beach. I doubt your cognitive status.

[geysir]

Effin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effin) is in Limerick, nowhere near the beach. I doubt your cognitive status.
You can doubt, but the evidence clearly points to uncertainties about your cognitive grammar abilities. :)

[Fixer82]

Effin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effin) is in Limerick, nowhere near the beach. I doubt your cognitive status.

he he

[Deckydee]

Just found this on the web.......

Jim Magilton has been appointed as the elite performance director of the Irish FA on a four year contract, overseeing the organisations’ coaching prgrammes and attempting to arrest the defection of Northern Ireland’s young players to the Republic.

Magilton said: “Eligibility is massive, I think that once we have a structure in place and are working closely with young players and have time with them, it naturally helps to build relationships and with people. I will get to know the boys, get to know the parents and if they decide to switch there isn’t a lot we can do about that. But as long as we can look them in the eye and say we have done everything we can for them then that’s all we can do. This role is important and it’s been a long time coming.”

[DannyInvincible]

Patrick McEleney claims he requires a British passport in order to finalise his clearance to play for the IFA (see around 1:30 of the video here): http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/sport/football/derry-city/mceleney-ready-for-champions-test-1-5344505

"Disaster!"

Is whoever informed him that such is a requirement correct though? Does he imply that Michael O'Neill told him that?

I understood IFA players were not required to possess British passports. In fact, I know certain players have played for IFA under-age teams in competitive fixtures and have been selected for the senior squad whilst being in possession of just an Irish passport.

[Sullivinho]

"Disaster!"

I wonder which weighs heavier on him; his passport predicament or that monstrosity on his wrist?

Not sure I get his sense of surprise tbh. If I were throwing my lot in with a UK-associated team, it'd probably occur to me that a British passport might be a requirement, whether that ultimately turned out to be the case or not.

Fail to prepare and all that.

[geysir]

Patrick McEleney claims he requires a British passport in order to finalise his clearance to play for the IFA (see around 1:30 of the video here): http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/sport/football/derry-city/mceleney-ready-for-champions-test-1-5344505

"Disaster!"

Is whoever informed him that such is a requirement correct though? Does he imply that Michael O'Neill told him that?

I understood IFA players were not required to possess British passports. In fact, I know certain players have played for IFA under-age teams in competitive fixtures and have been selected for the senior squad whilst being in possession of just an Irish passport.
It is deemed okay by FIFA that IFA players can produce either an Irish or British passport to the match officials.
It is worth noting the obvious that there is no Northern Irish nationality. In any case, a British passport does not even indicate with a remote degree of certainty that a player is eligible to play for Northern Ireland. FIFA has to trust that each of the 4 UK federations follow the eligibility criteria outlined in article 6.
Time for the sdlp/sf politician to throw a hissy fit and demand O'Neill commits harakiri.
At least he should get the moron of the year award. But he has proved beyond doubt that he is a fit and able person to manage the IFA team.

[Charlie Darwin]

They must be delighted over at AWC that they've managed to recruit a player who considers it a disaster to have to get a British passport. Hands off our boys, etc.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Not sure I get his sense of surprise tbh. If I were throwing my lot in with a UK-associated team, it'd probably occur to me that a British passport might be a requirement, whether that ultimately turned out to be the case or not.

Fail to prepare and all that.
Ha ha.

[co. down green]

Promising Liverpool right winger Ryan McLaughlin has said he no longer wants to be considered for selection to the IFA team.

Keep up the good work Jim Magilton ;)

[DannyInvincible]

Any indication he aspires to play for us eventually?

[Olé Olé]

So, this is the second instance of a player making themselves unavailable for selection by the IFA in recent weeks (following on from Donnelly). Surely these withdrawals are more motivated by a desire to play for Ireland, rather than a lack of desire to play international football at all?

[DannyInvincible]

Donnelly appears to have made himself available once again: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23618659

[Sullivinho]

Liverpool's Ryan McLaughlin puts club before Northern Ireland (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23655967)


Darron Gibson and James McClean are among a number of Northern Ireland-born players who have switched allegiance to the Republic of Ireland in recent years but McLaughlin has told O'Neill that he will not be following that path. "The player has assured me that is not in his thinking or an issue," added the Northern Ireland manager. "I would not be surprised if he has been targeted in some way by the Republic of Ireland but when a player sits down and tells me face-to-face that it isn't an eligibility issue, I have to believe him."

[Lionel Ritchie]

Liverpool's Ryan McLaughlin puts club before Northern Ireland (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23655967)

Very much doubt this lad will be switching to us. According to the OWC boys he's an NI supporter and has pics on his twitter of trips to WP.

[Predator]

Very much doubt this lad will be switching to us. According to the OWC boys he's an NI supporter and has pics on his twitter of trips to WP.His brother is a senior NI international, and youth teams have regularly been brought to Windsor Park during international weeks. He was cheering loudly on Twitter for Ireland during the Euros. Perhaps he supports both teams.

Also, let's not forget that the OWC lads are not exactly the most reliable when it comes to facts.

[Charlie Darwin]

He's changed his twitter description from "play football for Liverpool and Northern Ireland" to "player for Liverpool"

edit: Tardelli has said it is 'possible' he could switch but I don't know whether to read anything into that

http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/ireland/2013/08/13/4183313/marco-tardelli-hints-at-possible-international-switch-for

[DannyInvincible]

There's no indication that either McLaughlin has been in touch with the FAI or the FAI have been in touch with McLaughlin, so I wouldn't read a huge deal into that. Tardelli was most likely asked about McLaughlin at a press conference and answered with a stock response in the sense of anything being possible if a player wishes to play for us. Would he even know who McLaughlin is specifically? I doubt it. Tardelli's certainly not suggesting that the process to complete a switch is underway, or that it is even being pondered by either party.

[AlaskaFox]

Nice balanced piece about McLaughlin's international future:

http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/ireland/2013/08/14/4186324/cross-border-row-looms-as-mclaughlin-stalls-on-international?ICID=HP_PN_7

[Fixer82]

Well done to NI for a great victory on Wednesday!

[ArdeeBhoy]

Aye, the rumours are 'the Mafia' were involved. :rolleyes:

[DannyInvincible]

Possible match-fixing? Where'd you hear wind of this?

[Gather round]

Aye, sounds plausible. The plan involved kidnapping Alexander Kerzhakov and replacing him in the team with one of the UDA Egyptian Shoukhri brothers. False Kerzha embellished his cover by claiming never to have heard of Northern Ireland, and was immediately offered a pundit job on u.tv. Two-meter Petersburg Dzyuba looks (and plays) like a hungover brickie and all.

The same scam applied last time the Russians were in Dublin, unfortunately they only remembered to stop playing at half time.

Alternatively Ardee Troll just blew the story out of his arse. But then you knew that

[ArdeeBhoy]

Possible match-fixing? Where'd you hear wind of this?

It was a 'joke' perpetuated by the Russian media. Perhaps they do irony too, GR. As for shouting 'troll', well he'd certainly know...
:rolleyes:

[ArdeeBhoy]

Should have read as "You'd know".

Anyway, away from their media, another punter has chipped in.
http://www.wsc.co.uk/wsc-daily/1165-august-2013/10156-russia-crumbling-when-under-pressure-yet-again

Maybe GR will object to the :rolleyes: author's surname...

[Charlie Darwin]

Not strictly eligibility-related, but Grant McCann has become the latest to step down to concentrate on his club career. The difference in this case is that it will free up a spot in the senior side for some eligible young buck.

[Gather round]

Not strictly eligibility-related, but Grant McCann has become the latest to step down to concentrate on his club career. The difference in this case is that it will free up a spot in the senior side for some eligible young buck

He's 33 and has already moved into coaching/ management.

And hasn't played in the senior side in a qualifier since October 2011. O'Neill only rates him as a squad player covering Davis, Brunt and Norwood.

[Charlie Darwin]

Paul Rowan in today's Times mentions that Brendan Rodgers engineered a meeting between Michael O'Neill and Ryan McLaughlin but apparently he just doesn't want to play international football for anyone right now. He also mentions that Anton Rodgers has declared for the IFA while Gerry Armstrong pipes in with some typical ****-stirring about how Northern-born players are always telling him they don't feel welcome down south.

[DannyInvincible]

Gerry Armstrong pipes in with some typical ****-stirring about how Northern-born players are always telling him they don't feel welcome down south.

Who would he be referring to? :confused:

Very few players have "switched" from the IFA to the FAI and back again to the IFA. I'm not aware of any recently, in fact. Am I overlooking someone? There were the cases of Tony Kane and Michael O'Connor, but I'm not aware that they'd felt unwelcome joining up with FAI teams. They returned to the IFA for pragmatic career reasons, as far as I know.

Of all the other northern-born players to declare for us, none have expressed any sense of regret at the choice; not even Darron Gibson, despite his current self-imposed exile. There's absolutely no indication he'd rather be playing with the IFA than not playing under Trapattoni for personal reasons.

In fact, the welcome James McClean received in Lansdowne on his debut was hair-raising. Shane Duffy was also the beneficiary of exceptional support from the FAI when he suffered his life-threatening laceration.

[DannyInvincible]

Was just reading Anton Rodgers' Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Rodgers_(footballer)#International_career) and, don't you know it, this line humoured me:


Anton is eligible to play for England through birth, Northern Ireland through parentage, or the Republic of Ireland under EU rulings.

It references a Graham Luney article in the Belfast Telegraph (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/anton-rodgers-set-to-switch-his-allegiance-from-republic-28661623.html), but it never ceases to astound me the impressive diversity of ignorance and misunderstanding that stubbornly persists to exist in attempts to explain why exactly northern-born Irish nationals (or their immediate offspring) are eligible to play for Ireland.

[Olé Olé]

On the subject of a Rodgers, I wonder what impact Brendan Rodgers is having on the international career of Ryan McLaughlin. Apparently, he was unhappy with the decision by McLaughlin to make himself unavailable for selection. He'd surely be even more unhappy if McLaughlin made himself available to the FAI given that he reckons (if my memory serves me correctly on this quote) 'Northern Irish boys should be playing for Northern Ireland.'

The international status of Anton Rodgers also appears to be unknown given the comments made by his father about a year ago. Perhaps the replacement of his cousin Worthington has stalled the move.

EDIT: Just read CD's post.

[DannyInvincible]

He'd surely be even more unhappy if McLaughlin made himself available to the FAI given that he reckons (if my memory serves me correctly on this quote) 'Northern Irish boys should be playing for Northern Ireland.'

Relations between himself and his son must have been strained when Anton was lining out for our under-19s...

[Olé Olé]

Relations between himself and his son must have been strained when Anton was lining out for our under-19s...

Well if their relationship can withstand a trial over an orgy then I'm sure it can withstand anything.

[Charlie Darwin]

Who would he be referring to? :confused:

Very few players have "switched" from the IFA to the FAI and back again to the IFA. I'm not aware of any recently, in fact. Am I overlooking someone? There were the cases of Tony Kane and Michael O'Connor, but I'm not aware that they'd felt unwelcome joining up with FAI teams. They returned to the IFA for pragmatic career reasons, as far as I know.

Of all the other northern-born players to declare for us, none have expressed any sense of regret at the choice; not even Darron Gibson, despite his current self-imposed exile. There's absolutely no indication he'd rather be playing with the IFA than not playing under Trapattoni for personal reasons.

In fact, the welcome James McClean received in Lansdowne on his debut was hair-raising. Shane Duffy was also the beneficiary of exceptional support from the FAI when he suffered his life-threatening laceration.
He said Brendan told him Anton told him, and that 3 or 4 of the Northern Irelands who went down south said the same thing. Regardless of whether or not it's true, this is the kind of information the IFA are plowing young players with these days - hopefully there are a few lads with enough cop-on to see through it.

[Bungle]

I'd imagine Rodgers is more concerned with whether Ryan can get into the Liverpool first team. Rodgers is a Nationalist so maybe his son was treated shabbily or maybe he just wasn't good enough to play with us,like the other northern players. I'm pretty sure I remember Rodgers saying he had two international teams to support as a young lad. Sounds like a bit of a Gerry Armstrong.
Anyhow, I like Rodgers, even if he is an Uncle Tom :)

[Charlie Darwin]

Who said Rodgers is a nationalist? He's a Catholic by birth but that doesn't dispose him to any particular political position. His statements with respect to international football would point towards him not being a nationalist.

[DannyInvincible]

He said Brendan told him Anton told him, and that 3 or 4 of the Northern Irelands who went down south said the same thing. Regardless of whether or not it's true, this is the kind of information the IFA are plowing young players with these days - hopefully there are a few lads with enough cop-on to see through it.

Sounds like a load of guff, and rather desperate guff at that. Why would the FAI want to make players (they've first gone and selected) feel unwelcome? Is Armstrong referring to players who are currently registered with the FAI then? Why would he be communicating with them or they with him? Or is he referring to players who've switched from the FAI to the IFA? I'm trying to think of specific examples to which he might be referring but I have no idea. Did the McEleneys ever indicate that they felt unwelcome?

[Bungle]

Who said Rodgers is a nationalist? He's a Catholic by birth but that doesn't dispose him to any particular political position. His statements with respect to international football would point towards him not being a nationalist.

Fair point. I made the mistake of thinking a Catholic would be a Nationalist.

[Charlie Darwin]

Sounds like a load of guff, and rather desperate guff at that. Why would the FAI want to make players (they've first gone and selected) feel unwelcome? Is Armstrong referring to players who are currently registered with the FAI then? Why would he be communicating with them or they with him? Or is he referring to players who've switched from the FAI to the IFA? I'm trying to think of specific examples to which he might be referring but I have no idea. Did the McEleneys ever indicate that they felt unwelcome?
I assume he means that the other players see a guy coming down from NI as a bit "different" and that the ROI set-up is perhaps a bit less sophisticated and player-focused. I'd say the most obvious reason they might feel less welcome is because the standard is better so there's more competition. That's the bell O'Neill & Co. have been ringing for a while now - "you're probably not good enough for the ROI side and the nasty manager won't even pick League One players, but you'll be well taken care of here."

[DannyInvincible]

That's all speculation, but we still don't have any specific examples. Nor can I think of probable candidates.


I assume he means that the other players see a guy coming down from NI as a bit "different" and that the ROI set-up is perhaps a bit less sophisticated and player-focused.

Less sophisticated than the IFA set-up? Is the IFA set-up renowned as a bastion of sophistication now? And less player-focused in the sense that the FAI coaches have a wider pool of players from which to select so the building of close personal relationships may be somewhat limited?

[Charlie Darwin]

The level of coaching in NI is undoubtedly better than it is at FAI level, and I'd wager it is better organisationally too.

Less player-focused in the sense that the likes of Gerry Armstrong are going to do everything they can to make the elite players like McLaughlin feel at home, whereas with ROI they'll be just another player, which is the way it should be in an organisation that has aspirations of competing with the best. In other words, they've made it clear that if you're a really good prospect and thinking of declaring for Ireland, you'll be given special treatment to make sure you stay. This just doesn't happen with the FAI - witness Jack Grealish, Sean McGinty, etc being left out of the squads in spite of the possibility they could throw in their lot with England.

[DannyInvincible]

Fair point. I made the mistake of thinking a Catholic would be a Nationalist.

Catholicism/Catholic identity or heritage and unionism aren't necessarily irreconcilable, even in Ireland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Unionist

[DannyInvincible]

Less player-focused in the sense that the likes of Gerry Armstrong are going to do everything they can to make the elite players like McLaughlin feel at home, whereas with ROI they'll be just another player, which is the way it should be in an organisation that has aspirations of competing with the best. In other words, they've made it clear that if you're a really good prospect and thinking of declaring for Ireland, you'll be given special treatment to make sure you stay. This just doesn't happen with the FAI - witness Jack Grealish, Sean McGinty, etc being left out of the squads in spite of the possibility they could throw in their lot with England.

Noel King did make efforts to convince McEleney to stick with us - not that that necessarily meant he was to be offered special treatment - but your point generally makes sense.