Once his football career is over, Rory Gaffney has plans to become an accountant. He already has the qualifications, acquired during his playing career

The most popular game in the country is suffering from a reputational and leadership crisis at the top.

After years of underfunding, a €3m State-backed academy scheme offers Irish football its best chance to build sustainable success

Unlike 2023, this drop was direct. Once City slipped to the bottom in May, they were in freefall, 11 points adrift for the majority, and their fate sealed with four games remaining.

It will take years for that status to materialise but at long last, the Government are devoting funds to producing home-grown talent.

On top of the routine run-ins and finals, there’s the increasingly regular annual league phase involvement in the Conference League.

For the game’s sake, it’s high time they dispensed with the footwork and kept their limbs firmly intact when asked to account for a mess of their own making.

Next Wednesday’s grilling before an Oireachtas hearing is gearing up to be another public inquisition.

They did succeed in quietening him 15 months ago in a friendly win that ended Hungary’s 14-match unbeaten run, but this is competitive fare.

Anyone who has dealt with Ozhianvuna during his upbringing classify him as a steady sort, impenetrable from the pressure that will inevitably surface.