{"id":451041,"date":"2026-05-15T23:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/451041\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T23:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:47:10","slug":"jack-moylans-ireland-rise-shows-how-league-of-ireland-is-reshaping-the-national-team-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/451041\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Moylan\u2019s Ireland rise shows how League of Ireland is reshaping the national team \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a sign of the times. Six of the current Republic of Ireland<\/a> squad training under the Spanish sun at La Finca resort this week made their way into professional football via the League of Ireland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I went [to England] when I was 16 I would have been home when I was 18,\u201d explained the uncapped Jack Moylan ahead of Saturday\u2019s experimental friendly against Grenada in Murcia. \u201cI have no shame or no problem with that. I just wasn\u2019t good enough or developed enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moylan\u2019s career is a modern Irish football story. Let go by Bohemians in 2021, the then 19-year-old saw the writing on the wall. Not good enough. Not strong enough. His technique and silky touch were never a concern, but Bohs saw more potential in Dawson Devoy and Ross Tierney.<\/p>\n

The truth is, Moylan was neither good enough nor strong enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was told that a lot as a kid,\u201d he remembered. \u201cI think every kid might get told that at some stage. But look, I was very small. I probably wasn\u2019t good enough. And in fairness, that Bohs team had some really good young lads and Rossy and Dawson were there ahead of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now 24, and having finished a League One campaign when his 11 goals and seven assists helped Lincoln City secure promotion to the EFL Championship, Moylan has the benefit of perspective.<\/p>\n

Five years ago, he had to get a job, at Bike Row Ski in Kinsealy, before the lonely round trip to Wexford to train with his new club.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome dark days. When I was released [by Bohs] I thought: \u2018That\u2019s my chance gone.\u2019 But you got to get on with it and keep working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LincolnLincoln City’s Jack Moylan (left) and Reeco Hackett celebrate with fans after the League One win over Wycombe Wanderers last month. Photograph: Bruce Rollinson\/PA <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Dundee defender Will Ferry called up to Republic of Ireland squad for Grenada friendlyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Wexford FC is where Damien Duff found him. The Shelbourne manager needed to build his attack around a flexible number 10. The greatest compliment Duff paid Moylan was to bemoan his departure, within two years, to the English lower leagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe texted last night to ask how I was getting on,\u201d laughed Moylan. \u201cSlagging me again about eating too much of \u2018me ma\u2019s coddle.\u2019 I don\u2019t even eat coddle. Me ma is a vegetarian.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was just making sure I was doing everything right. He even speaks to my Dad. It shows the fella he is, he cares a lot about his players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had to listen to him on the TV over the last few Friday nights. He might not mind me saying, he is dying to get back involved. He loves football so much. For him to go away from the game is impossible.\u201d <\/p>\n

It was Duff who gave Moylan the gift of siestas.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe used to be obsessed with sleeping, and thank God it\u2019s one of the best things that\u2019s happened to me. He couldn\u2019t believe that lads went home and didn\u2019t sleep. Every day for the last four years, I\u2019ve had a nap after training.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move to Lincoln was a culture shock and came with familiar doubts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I made my debut against Stevenage I was standing in the tunnel and they were just monsters, every single one of them was six foot six inches. I was a fragile lad coming over from Dublin. That\u2019s the biggest step up from the League of Ireland. I don\u2019t think the quality is a massive difference. From League One anyway.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"RoryRory Finneran. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Moylan\u2019s first cap is in touching distance. Rory Finneran (18), the Manchester-born Newcastle United midfielder, is also set to make his debut on Saturday evening at Estadio Enrique Roca.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to stay here. Not just a fun story for the summer, I want to be here for the next 10, 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are five more like Moylan. Made in the League of Ireland. Chiedozie Ogbene left Cork City to make a name for himself at Limerick until Brentford set him on a path towards the Premier League. <\/p>\n

In 2021, Aidomo Emakhu, now at Oxford United, scored the winner for Shamrock Rovers against Teuta from Albania on a memorable European night in Tallaght. That was the same year Josh Keeley started in goal for St Patrick\u2019s Athletic against Finn Harps. James Abankwah won an FAI Cup medal with St Pat\u2019s before signing for Udinese in 2022, while Andrew Moran made three appearances for Bray Wanderers in 2019 before joining Brighton. <\/p>\n

This is only the beginning. Brexit\u2019s unintended gift to Irish football was to block its teenagers from moving to a British club until they turn 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the likes of Victor [Ozhianvuna] now who is playing men\u2019s football [for Rovers] every single week,\u201d Moylan said. \u201cI think that\u2019s massive for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Brexit is probably the best thing that\u2019s happened to the League of Ireland, to keep boys until they are 18 and play 50, 60 games so when they go over they go straight into a team. <\/p>\n

\u201cNot to play under-23s football, it\u2019s fake football, I\u2019ve seen it over there.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to be going from men\u2019s football straight into men\u2019s football.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Millenic Alli and Adam Idah score as Ireland beat Murcia B in warm-up gameOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a sign of the times. Six of the current Republic of Ireland squad training under the Spanish…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23531,61,60,2539,43,1842],"class_list":["post-451041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-damien-duff","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-league-of-ireland","tag-news","tag-republic-of-ireland-mnt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}