Irish not foreign according to English Premier League
Quote:
This is a list of
foreign players in the
Premier League, which commenced play in 1992. The following players must meet both of the following two criteria:
- Have played at least one Premier League game. Players who were signed by Premier League clubs, but only played in lower league, cup and/or European games, or did not play in any competitive games at all, are not included.
- Are considered foreign, i.e., outside Great Britain and Ireland, determined by the following:
A player is considered foreign if he is not eligible to play for the national teams of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland.
Why is this? A Dutch player is considered foreign playing in Belgium, a Danish player is considered foreign playing in Sweden, a English player playing in Ireland is foreign so whats the reason for this?