Henderson resigned to Emirates departure

Arsenal’s long drought of Irish first team players will continue after Conor Henderson confirmed he will quit the Emirates in May.

Not since Graham Barrett’s brief substitute appearance against Sunderland in January 2000 has an Irishman lined out for the Gunners in the Premier League, a far cry from the 1970s and ’80s when their team was dominated by the likes of Liam Brady, Frank Stapleton, David O’Leary and Niall Quinn.

Despite recruiting Irish talent like Anthony Stokes and Stephen Bradley in their teens, these players have not made the top-flight breakthrough.