Irish must have say in England’s debate

The World Cup qualifying groups may be over but the Premier League provides a mini World Cup of its own this weekend as internationals from around the globe re-convene on foreign soil; and the ever-intensifying debate over whether that is good for football should have resonance in Dublin as well as London.

Inevitably the debate is being generated from Wembley, where the FA has set up a commission to look into whether too many overseas players in the top flight is the reason for its national team’s continuing lack of success.

Despite a midweek victory over Poland that sent England to Brazil, luminaries such as Glenn Hoddle, the former Tottenham midfielder, have called for clubs to be given quotas on the number of foreign players they can select, as they were before the Premier League in 1992.