John Fallon: The battle between the North and FAI for emerging talent heats up
Chelsea's Chris Atherton. Pic via Chelsea FC
WE CAN ONLY imagine the benefits of Conor Bradley succeeding Séamus Coleman as Ireland’s long-term right-back but the FAI’s determination to avoid a repeat loss has triggered an inevitable reaction in Northern Ireland.
Michael O’Neill has been the vociferous spokesperson from across the border for the best part of 15 years and will continue to do so given he’s extended his contract as manager until 2032.
His frustration at the FAI’s approach to enlisting players born in the six counties threatened to overspill when in 2018 he highlighted the sole targeting of Catholics.
Eight years on and in his second spell at the helm, the language and tone chosen is in the spirit of conciliation.
While his employers in the Irish FA were understood to be aghast at the opinion offered by John Martin, nine months into his tenure as director of football, the senior team boss wasn’t so acerbic.
Here’s what Martin said last month about getting the best possible players into an Irish shirt, citing the example of Liverpool’s first-teamer Bradley.
“Easy one isn't he,” he said of the Tyrone native. “Fantastic player and you hear second-hand stuff that he is a (Republic of) Ireland fan.
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“Asking the question is the bare minimum we should be doing, whether they are based in Northern Ireland, Germany or the UK. If they are eligible for us, yeah, for sure. It is not specific to the north, but we have to make sure we are doing our job.
“We know there are kids out there who want to play for Ireland who haven't been approached in the past.
“That's not right. It’s making sure we have a presence and we understand all the players available to us and that they are being monitored and tracked.
"That is something we need to be better at. You don't want to lose out on a player that wants to play for us. We can't have that."
Martin’s former academy director at Shamrock Rovers Aidan Price joined the FAI last year before he did and his brief boils down to recruiting and retaining the finest gems.
It’s believed the FAI hierarchy were behind the softly-softly approach on Bradley, reluctant to cause friction with their northern counterparts at a time they were bidding in unison to co-host Euro 2028.
What also gave Northern Ireland a headstart was their centralised academy system.
While the FAI have chosen to delegate that function to League of Ireland clubs, the IFA's Club NI scheme, which has been running since 2014, has assembled high-potential players for specialist training.
The residential academy, supported and endorsed by Uefa, has cited Bradley as their marquee graduate.
O’Neill has urged the FAI to be cognisant of that aspect when it comes to extracting players from their system.
Stretching back to John Delaney’s era, the FAI’s stance centres on the choice of the player and their family but Martin’s sentiments indicate the ante will be upped for fear of another generational tyro like Bradley staying put.
“I know John Martin from his time at Shamrock Rovers and had a conversation with him post those comments,” O’Neill, a former Rovers manager, told last week.
“It wasn’t directly around those comments, just on the situation in general.
"This is something we’ve dealt with since I was in the job the first time around and was there for previous managers like Nigel Worthington.
“It’s not ideal but it is important that we have dialogue with the FAI on this. They must understand our situation.
“We’re putting young players in an academy situation, paying for their education, making a big commitment to them and their families.
“We’re trying to give them the best possible chance of having a professional career when they go to England.
“You have to let a young player make his own mind up at a point in his career where he’s old and mature enough to do so.”
Chelsea prospect Chris Atherton in February became the latest northern-born player to defect while the FAI haven’t given up on Arsenal’s Ceadach O'Neill despite the 18-year-old getting fast-tracked into O’Neill’s squad for this week’s friendlies.
Like Bradley, GAA was part of his upbringing in Derry, and he won’t be tied down until a competitive debut is granted.
His namesake Michael namechecked other Derry residents James McClean and Shane Duffy as the rare success stories of jumping ship, noting the abundance of others who left their system without progressing through the ranks.
“The point I made to John is the FAI have their right to approach, that’s what the rules are, but it’s important that the timing and nature is done with a lot of care,” he added.
“I asked Jamie Donley to make an international transfer from England, but it was with a guarantee of ‘you’re going to come into our squad and be a senior international’, which he is.
“I genuinely don’t believe many players who have made that decision from the North (to the Republic) have benefited.
“Players must be very careful making those decisions. I respect any decisions and am not criticising them, but I think ‘Do you want longevity?’ Certainly, I think we offer that.”
O’Neill was on his two-year break from the job, as Stoke City boss, when he admitted the divisiveness of God Save the Queen put Northern Ireland at a disadvantage.
Five years later, with no change to the policy, they can’t crib if the FAI avails of those from a nationalist background opting to join the neighbours.
Summer will be dominated by one topic with the FAI due to convene an emergency general meeting to ballot on a motion of boycotting the Uefa Nations League fixtures against Israel.
Friday’s submission by the requisite 10% of the general assembly compels the FAI’s board to respond within 21 days and schedule the summit within 60.
Speculation of a hastily convened gathering of board members for Tuesday proved idle as it will be added to the next routine meeting.
As it stands, there is no deviation from the FAI’s stated position of fulfilling the games, away on September 27, likely in a neutral venue in Debrecen, Hungary, and at home the following Sunday, October 4.
This despite the tennis ball protests at last Thursday’s win over Qatar, pointed comments by men’s team captain Séamus Coleman beforehand and the likelihood of a large majority of their 145 members supporting a non-binding boycott.
Campaign group Stop The Game, backed by Brian Kerr, World Cup bound Pico Lopes and James McClean are adamant the compromise move of taking the home game out of Ireland won’t be accepted.
Although chief executive David Courell insisted in February only safety concerns will convince Uefa to approve such a switch, Scotland’s women’s team are activating that measure this week.
They, along with Belgium and Luxembourg, chose to relocate their ‘home’ World Cup qualifiers against Israel to Budapest. Expect something similar to be floated when push comes to shove here.
Tallaght duo Katie McCabe and Robbie Keane are in the news this week, one already on the move and the other angling for pastures new too.
Keane’s talks with Celtic’s majority shareholder Dermot Desmond about the Celtic job on Monday are believed to have gone extremely well but nothing will be decided until the intentions of Martin O’Neill are established.
McCabe had her pick of clubs, in England and abroad, after Arsenal committed a catalogue of blunders in allowing her to depart for free.
From being informed in January of, at best, a short-term extension on the table, the Gunners desperately attempted at the eleventh hour to scramble better terms.
The Ireland captain’s representatives were by that stage fielding interest from the biggest clubs in the world and, though moving to new champions Manchester City was tempting, staying in London with Chelsea was preferable.
That the Blues dangled a three-year deal to the 30-year-old, with the option of an extra year, was the clincher.
john.fallon@examiner.ie.
