54,321 sold - wws will never die - ***
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New blog if anyone's interested - http://loihistory.wordpress.com/
LOI section on balls.ie - http://balls.ie/league-of-ireland/
If you think that's bad, I was in school at the time of her death. The dance teacher had this obsession with Princess Di, and every year on the anniversary of her death she would send out her dance class to do a performance to Elton John's rendition of "Candle in the Wind."
Three ****ing years later and I'm thinking, get over it woman!
i remember reading somewhere as well that clinton married an irish girl and has a son who he called cian. genuine paddy now... he tried very hard in the green as well
we've had these type of players throughout the last quarter century, particularly during our most successful period under jack.
if we get a few extra quality players in using this rule and it helps take us to a higher level then i think we'll all be happy regardless of whether they are first, second or third generation Irish.
reality is that players like kilbane are the rarity among the foreign born contingent. most would have rather played for the country of their birth if they had thought they would get the opportunity. I would include aldridge, sheedy, houghton, morrison, mcateer, babb, townsend, lawrenson etc.. in this bracket. nobody questioned their credentials when they brought us to 3 major tournaments in 6 years? if we are going to be that parochial about things why dont we ship out trap and only give the managers job to a 'proper paddy' too.
doesnt bother me at all. furthermore, if a few foreign-born players can come in and help us to be successful at a world cup or euros then it will encourage more youngsters in Ireland to take up the sport and hopefully help develop the type of quality players domestically that we need to compete at international level in the longrun
You stated that you would not be happy with Nolan, Noble or O'Hara playing for Ireland. While I understand that Nolan sat on the fence and O'Hara gave negative vibes, I merely asked what had Noble done or said that made you feel this way
And for the rest of my post? FFS I replied to your one single post. Lads, I think we have to read all Joema's posts before we are entitled to reply
Shock, he loved the country into which he was born.
And now he has 2 loves and all the better for it.
A second national identity can also be built upon or even acquired.
What one person regards as Irish or being Irish, is their subjective opinion.
Nationality rules and regulations are without prejudice towards subjective opinion or sentiment.
A dual national is one before the age of 21 just he as he is the same after 21.
No one is forcing a federation to chose an older player who has not been a part of the set up from an early age.
The question is, will this be abused to the detriment of the game?
In that case, FIFA can always add another regulation to tighten it up
If you check the links on the other section, duff at the end of the bulgaria game, made a point and came over to this fella in a wheelchair near the irish section. He grabbed yer mans hand and shook it well not shook it but you know the way you clinch yer hadn with someone!! He then took off his jersey and kissed the badge i think and gave it to the lad win the wheelchair. Thought that was the nicest thing i have seen in a long time by an irish player, ill still remember him though checking in in bratislava behind me walking normal and then when he gets to the lounge and starts limping with all teh irish fans around ;D
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
I remember as a kid seeing Houghton on some kind of tribute show to someone or other on Kenny Live, and when asked about how he came to play for Ireland, replied, "well, it was always my dream to play for Scotland, but ......." and I forgot the rest after that as I lost all respect for the man. I can't understand how any Irish fan wouldn't be embarrassed by that statement. Even the current soccer republic ad on tv says you just need an Irish greyhound or something along those lines to play for Ireland. If that's the reputation we have in this country, imagine what it's like outside.
A lot of people on here seem to want to support a successful team at all costs, not a representative team of this country. I can't relate to this at all. How would you feel if we just threw a load of money at some world class footballers to buy them a passport, like some Middle East countries have done with athletes?
A few links in todays press about it:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...e-1766303.html
http://www.examiner.ie/sport/cunning...its-93664.html
The one from the 'Indo' looks at players that could play
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist thinks it will change; the realist adjusts the sails.
According to Daniel McDonnell, in the Indo piece which DeckyDee quoted:
"[Noble is] Another grandparent link who holidayed here as a child but pretty much no hope of Noble being converted to the cause as Ireland have tried and failed before. The West Ham midfielder is preparing for the European U-21 Championship with England, and is tipped as a certainty to progress to senior international honours"
Coincidentally, Stuart Pearce picked Noble as his Captain in the England U-21 team which beat Azerbaijan U-21's 7-0 last night, in preparation for their trip to the Euro U-21 Finals.
Tbh, with Zola guiding him at WHU, Noble must be a decent bet for a senior England call-up in the next 2 or 3 years, as McDonnell says.
Thanks Irishfan. As a kid, Clinton used to spend some of his summer holidays in Ireland (in Garristown, north county Dublin) and he's talked over the years about trying to play GAA with his cousins. He did take his time declaring finally for us but if you're a young kid with agents and managers putting pressure on you not everyone will have the strength of a Kilbane or a Breen to say no.
The Townsends and Aldridge's may have slightly more tenuous connections but as long as they play with commitment and passion (as they always did) then I have no problem with that as they have got Irish bloodlines. I have second cousins born in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Newcastle and they have been brought up in England but always aware of their Irish background. How can people say they are any less Irish than someone born here just because their parents or grandparents moved away to get a job?
"There's man all over for you, blaming on his boots the fault of his feet" - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
We've already seen that- USA 94 squad.7 of the 22 Irish born. The point for me is that i dont want representing your country to be a p1sstake and us going after failed English rejects. Anton Ferdinand and Kevin Nolan to me is a complete joke-and I still think the same about the likes of Morrisson even if he played with heart-I'll always consider his addition to the Ireland set up as a disgrace.
Last edited by as_i_say; 09/06/2009 at 12:37 PM.
I
Nolans only 26
Alway thought he was much older....
Houghton was honest enough to state that playing for Scotland was his original goal. I wouldn't knock him for that - as it in no way detracts from the effort, commitment and contribution he made to Irish International Football.
There's the small matter of scoring 2 of the most important goals in Irish Footballing history for a start. He also weighed in with a play off goal as well. The goals he scored only scratch the surface of his playing contribution. He was a massively influential player throughout the Charlton era.
Only a few days after the Hillsborough disaster, a tragedy that traumatised so many, Houghton travelled to Dublin to play against Spain. He crossed the ball for the winner and had a goal chalked off for off side.
I'm proud to say that Ray Houghton represented this country at International Football.
Quoting years at random since 1975
You are missing my point. I welcome players born in other countries that play for us, and to tell you the truth once they play for Ireland, to me they are Irish. However, I'm discussing Houghton, as Joema gave the impression earlier that he would not welcome Noble, Nolan etc because apparentky thay had stated that England would be their first choice. I then put the example of Houghton to him. To happily accept Houghton and not Noble, for example, smacks of hypocrisy. It doesn't matter that he played brilliantly for us and scored important goals. The fact is he wanted to play for Scotland as his first choice - no differant from what Noble allegedly said re England
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