If a Cypriot club can do it, why can’t we?

So Cillian Sheridan, playing for APOEL from Nicosia in Cyprus, is the sole Irish representative in the Champions League group stages for 2014/2015.

The necessity of playing in European club football does not need to be restated here. But looking at the Irish national team that played against Oman last Wednesday, it is very worrying to find a distinct lack of exposure to European club football throughout the side. According to my (semi-dodgy) internet sources, of the 10 outfield players that started the game for Ireland, only Wes Hoolahan made it into the double figures in European club appearances, all garnered whilst playing with Shelbourne FC in the League of Ireland.

The return of Shay Given to the Irish set-up, however controversial, is the return of a man deeply experienced at every level of football, including European club football, which he experienced 70 times, mostly for Newcastle. The reality these days, sad though it may be, is that the kind of experience European football that Given, Duff or Robbie Keane gained seems no longer attainable for Irish players in the UK.