Killoran Brothers

[TrapAPony]

http://www.goal.com/en/news/3376/goalcom-youth-football/2011/02/05/2338631/goalcom-scouting-report-colin-and-niall-killoran-tokyo-verdy


Colin and Niall Killoran were born on April 7 1992 to a Japanese mother and Irish father in Tokyo. At 10 they joined the Verdy 1969 elementary youth team and have played for the historical Tokyo club ever since.

At the age of 14 both Colin and Niall were drafted into the Japanese national youth teams and have both represented the Land of the Rising Sun all the way through to under-18 level, and, in the case of Colin, under-19.

During the second year of high school Colin and Niall went on trial in Europe with with Watford and Celtic. They received glowing reviews from both teams, with Watford offering Colin a stay in England.

However, the twins were committed to returning to Japan in order to complete their youth careers at Verdy. With Colin captaining the side, they led their team to victory in the summer national championships.



Samurai Blue or Boys in Green? International future undecided

In the winter of this past year both Colin and Niall were offered professional contracts by Verdy. Despite interest from abroad, they opted to sign with the club that raised them from a young age, and as they enter the coming season they are both determined to play some part in Verdy's starting line up.

At 1.85m and 1.86m respectively, both Colin and Niall are blessed with strong, yet slender physiques, which pays testament to their mixed heritage. Colin, a natural-born leader, is a centre-back known for exceptional technique and a good reading of the game. Niall boasts great hands and takes full advantage of his size. Both claim that they are still growing in height despite being only 18.

Colin and Niall are eligible to play for Japan and Ireland and as of now they have yet to decide which country they ultimately want to represent. Regardless of which national team they may play for in the future, they have both stated that while they want to leave their mark in Japan, they would eventually like to test their trade in Europe and see how far they can take themselves.

The future looks truly bright for these unique Irish-blooded brothers, born and raised in the heart of Japan.

[pineapple stu]

Is that one thread for each of them? :p

[paul_oshea]

When i read it that's exactly what i was thinking.

[geysir]

I thought this would be about a ceilidh band.

[EastTerracer]

Their names came up a few times on foot.ie in the last twelve months. I did pass the details on to a contact in the FAI so hopefully they have done some research here (or is that being too optimistic?).

I was slightly concerned that they shared an agent with J.Lapira but that may just be an unfortunate coincidence.

[Stuttgart88]

Killoran? Is that Japanese for a blind harpist?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Lots of Irish goalkeepers moving on up in the world. B. Murphy and Logan in the Premier League, J. Murphy and McCarey in the Championship, and now Niall Killoran, who recently made a third successive start for Tokyo Verdy in the Japanese 2nd tier.

https://twitter.com/EmeraldExiles/status/498497766705094657

[osarusan]

At this point in their lives (over 20 years old), the brothers have probably already received a letter from the Japanese government advising them that Japan doesn't permit dual citizenship, and asking them to let the government know which citizenship they'd like to keep.

They'll be given two years to make the decision. In other situations that I know of, people have just replied that they'd like to keep the Japanese citizenship, but have also kept their citizehship of the other country.

I wonder if they have been asked to make such a decision yet.

[DannyInvincible]

In other situations that I know of, people have just replied that they'd like to keep the Japanese citizenship, but have also kept their citizehship of the other country.

Are Japanese citizens officially permitted to maintain dual citizenship up to the age of 20? Do those who keep their citizenship of a second country after this age simply keep this under wraps from the Japanese government?

If the Killorans were to renounce their Irish citizenship, it would be possible to reclaim it again at some point if they ever wanted anyway: https://www.dfa.ie/passports-citizenship/citizenship/can-i-reclaim-my-citizenship/

I assume the reclaimed citizenship would be then considered as a continuation of their "former" citizenship and would be re-effective from birth (as they have an Irish father), rather than from the point of reclaiming, but not 100 per cent sure on that. If it was considered re-effective only from the moment of reclaiming, it could have eligibility implications if they were to represent Japan at some level whilst no longer in possession of Irish citizenship. In saying that, they're both over 21 now, so the only level at which they could now play at for Japan would be senior level and, of course, playing in a competitive fixture for Japan at that level would tie them anyway.

[osarusan]

Are Japanese citizens officially permitted to maintain dual citizenship up to the age of 20? Do those who keep their citizenship of a second country after this age simply keep this under wraps from the Japanese government?.

Yes, exactly this. They keep it under wraps from the government, and the government doesn't seem to make any effort to investigate what they have actually done about their other citizenship.

The government does reserve the right however, to revoke their citizenship if it discovers that they have not actually revoked their other citizenship. One way the government has discovered this in the past is if a person who left Japan using the Japanese passport returns to Japan using the passport of their other country (on the other way around, obviously). So, if it is blatantly obvious to them, they may decide there is a case to revoke citizenship.

And I can't think of many things more blatantly obvious than a Japanese citizen playing an international football match for another country.

Not that this is going to happen in this case anyway.