New boys ensure Highbury resounds to lilt of the Irish

IT’S 30 years since the famed halls at Highbury resounded so unmistakably to the tones of the Irish.

The era of Brady, O’Leary, Stapleton turned North London into the green quarter of the old Division One - John Devine, and Northern Ireland trio, Pat Jennings, Pat Rice and Sammy Nelson added to the conviction that Arsenal had usurped Manchester United’s role as football’s Irish home from home. However, George Graham took the club in a different direction, and though the arrival of Arsene Wenger in 1996 switched the focus to mainland Europe, the appointment of Liam Brady as director of youth development may have been the catalyst for a quiet Irish revolution at the home of the Premiership champions.

Brady has cultivated a scouring network around Europe, but his presence at Arsenal has clearly had the effect of luring the best young Irish prospects to North London.

One of the brightest prospects, 16-year-old Dubliner Anthony Stokes turned heads again this week with a mesmerising solo winner as Arsenal’s reserves claimed a 2-1 victory over North London rivals Spurs at Underhill. His decisive strike came after fellow Dubliner, Patrick Clegg, had given the Gunners a 60th minute lead. Clegg came on as a substitute for Wenger’s Carling Cup side in their 1-0 defeat to Man Utd at Old Trafford last week.

Completing a triumvirate of Irish starters for the Gunners’ second string against Spurs was Stephen O’Donnell. All, of course, have been moulded by former Gunner Brady, the club’s academy director.

Stokes, who chose Arsenal over Man Utd when he moved from Shelbourne, won the ball near the corner flag in the 70th minute before dodging past Calum Davenport on the byline, muscling his way through Marcel McKie and somehow squeezing his shot past keeper Marton Fulop and into the far corner.

“Stokes scored a very good individual goal. He did ever so well, showed great persistence and skill and got his reward. He worked really hard again and finishes well,” said Arsenal reserve manager Neil Banfield. “Stokes is adding to his game all the time and what we’re trying to produce is an intelligent footballer. The manager talks a lot about football intelligence and the players are taking up the challenge. It’s important they get a football education. You don’t know where they will end up as players so when they go out there and do a job for the team they can function in different positions.”

Stokes has also been in scoring form for Arsenal’s U18s, netting the winner last Saturday in a hard-fought win over Chelsea. It was Stokes’ third Academy League goal of the campaign and his fifth in all competitions.

On Clegg, Banfield added: “He’s only a teenager but he’s played at Manchester United and made some great strides this season. That’s all you can do for the manager.”