The September international break is upon us and there are several current and former League of Ireland players included across the squads. Here is your list from the senior team to the under-17s.
Heimir Hallgrímsson will begin his bid to get Ireland to a first World Cup since 2002 on Saturday night as Ireland host Hungary. The Ireland U21s will also begin a qualifying campaign, hoping to reach the U21 EUROs. Both the U19s and the U17s will play in friendlies, with the latter preparing for a World Cup in November.
Senior Squad
The international friendlies in June saw Shamrock Rovers defender Josh Honohan included in the squad, but he misses out for the World Cup qualifiers. Troy Parrott has had to withdraw due to injury, which forced a late call-up for former Sligo Rovers and Shamrock Rovers striker Johnny Kenny.
Other former LOI players include Matt Doherty, Killian Phillips, Gavin Bazunu, Ryan Manning, Evan Ferguson and Chiedozie Ogbene.
Under-21s
Jim Crawford has selected only three active League of Ireland players in his squad that will face Moldova and Andorra in European qualifiers. Those players are Jad Hakiki of Sligo Rovers, Mason Melia of St Patrick’s Athletic and Michael Noonan of Shamrock Rovers.
It is worth noting that Owen Elding (19), one of the most highly regarded talents in the Premier Division, is in the process of switching allegiances from England to Ireland and will likely be selected in future camps.
Under-19s
Tom Mohan has named a host of League of Ireland players in his panel. His selected defenders include three Shelbourne players: Taylor McCarthy, Raymond Offor and James Roche. The fourth and final Shelbourne player in the U19 squad is Daniel Ring. Matthew Murray, who scored in last Friday night’s Munster derby, has also been called up.
While the Premier Division takes a week off during the international break, the First Division does not, so certain clubs will be without key players. Adam Brennan of UCD, Alain Kizenga of Bray Wanderers and Ajibola Oluwabiyi of Wexford have all been included.
These eight League of Ireland players, along with the rest of the squad, will play two friendlies against France.
Under-17s
The Republic of Ireland Under-17s are preparing for the World Cup in November and their panel is largely made up of League of Ireland players. The biggest names are Billy O’Neil, who has taken the First Division by storm this season for Bray Wanderers, and Victor Ozhianvuna, who has broken into the Shamrock Rovers team and looks set to join Arsenal for a LOI record fee.
Other players in the squad include Alex Noonan of Shamrock Rovers, Corey Sheridan of Finn Harps, Ryan Butler of Wexford, Josh Cullen of Finn Harps, Vincent Leonard of Dundalk, Josh O’Connor of St Patrick’s Athletic, Sean Spaight of Dundalk, Goodness Ogbonna of UCD, Gavin McAteer of Finn Harps, Charles Akinrintoyo of UCD, Billy Hayes of St Patrick’s Athletic, Brody Lee of Cork City and Cillian Tollett of Galway United.
The squad will travel to Czechia where they will play three friendlies, first against Czechia, then Switzerland and finally Turkey.