The UAFC

Maybe an unusual day to raise this....But in watching Match of the Day tonight ( sans GL.....apparently arranged weeks ago......, I struggled in vain to recognise any Northern International players ....... Ie none?!I
I admit to not being as au fait as I used to be with the squad ( I am old enough to remember when the NI team was almost 100 per cent made up of " First Division " ie Premier league standard players. ) but does anyone have a plausible theory as to why do few teenage NI players are being picked up by the big English teams?
The Troubles were blamed........But as we all know they magically stopped in 1998.
What is the issue? Can it be fixed?

There is a dearth of footballing talent north and south. It's been dreadfully poor for a long time. The Premier league is just too full of foreign talent. Gareth Safegate was lamenting he might have to pick from the championship soon. You see more young English players moving abroad too.

There are kids that are signed up but they’re competing against lads from all over the world these days.

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/sport/foo ... 533647.amp

Someone like Ballard was never going to break into the Arsenal team but he seems to have found his level at Sunderland in the Championship.

justinr73 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 10:18 am There are kids that are signed up but they’re competing against lads from all over the world these days,

Sounds familiar ...

Definitely the influx of foreign talent which Premiership clubs are wealthy enough to afford. The bubble must burst sometime but probably not soon. I came across an article recently about the astronomical amount the PL has spent on foreign players, dwarfing every other league in the world. I'll post if I can find it again.

solidarity wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 6:43 pm Definitely the influx of foreign talent which Premiership clubs are wealthy enough to afford. The bubble must burst sometime but probably not soon. I came across an article recently about the astronomical amount the PL has spent on foreign players, dwarfing every other league in the world. I'll post if I can find it again.

Here's one report, showing that the Premier Lesgue spent as much as the next four or five European leagues put together.
https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/p ... spend.html
Scotlnd, Wales and Ireland also suffering as much as NI.

Dave wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:56 am There is a dearth of footballing talent north and south. It's been dreadfully poor for a long time. The Premier league is just too full of foreign talent. Gareth Safegate was lamenting he might have to pick from the championship soon. You see more young English players moving abroad too.

I would agree Dave, although the young lad at Brighton, Evan Ferguson looks a proper good'un for the ROI team. First really good prospect in years.