Originally Posted by totalfootball
Yes, I think it says a lot about the Irish obsession with British football teams, that it doesn't seem to occur to our top players that they would be contributing so much more if they were to spend some of their post-peak years playing football in Ireland. I can't see what great players like Denis Irwin or Steve Staunton achieved by continuing to play in the lower leagues in England after they had retired from international football. Had they come back to Ireland for just one year, this would have given a real boost to football in Ireland, and not only would it have been good for young players in the Eircom league who got to play alongside them, but it would have been good for the footballer's status in Ireland too.