5 under-the-radar Ireland players vying to become the 'new Alan McLoughlin'

TROY PARROTT WAS the man who inspired Ireland’s qualification to the World Cup playoffs with a brace and hat-trick in the respective wins over Portugal and Hungary.

But it is not always the star striker who inspires a team’s greatest moments.

Consider November 1993 — Ireland’s hero was an unlikely one, the late Alan McLoughlin.

The midfielder was hardly an unknown — he had made the squad as a last-minute call-up for the 1990 World Cup and featured as a substitute in two of the games.

But he was not a household name either, at least until that night at Windsor Park against Northern Ireland.

McLoughlin was playing in the English second tier at the time and would become the first Portsmouth player to make a World Cup squad since 1958.

Introduced off the bench in the 70th minute, McLoughlin would fire home an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area six minutes later to secure a 1-1 draw and send the Republic to USA ’94.

Advertisement

McLoughlin had never scored for the Boys in Green before, and would only do so one more time in his 42 caps — a decidedly less memorable effort in the disastrous 1997 3-2 defeat to Macedonia.

Manager Jack Charlton quipped after the famous Northern Ireland match that McLoughlin’s goal “justifies his existence for the last few years” — a comment the player later admitted to finding “funny” but hurtful. 

What that story reminds us of, though, is that should Ireland qualify for the World Cup, the hero of the moment may not be someone obvious like Parrott but potentially a less heralded name.

Below are five players who are not even guaranteed to make the upcoming squad but could potentially write their names into the history books like McLoughlin did all those years ago.

1. Alan Browne

September 2024 was the last time Browne was selected for an Ireland squad, but that could change when Heimir Hallgrímsson announces his latest panel on Thursday. The midfielder had an indifferent season last year, with injuries contributing to him being left on the periphery of the Sunderland squad as the Black Cats won promotion to the Premier League. But Browne has rejuvenated his career on loan at Middlesbrough and could end up with back-to-back promotions on his resume, as Kim Hellberg’s men are on course to go up, as they sit second in the table. Individually, Browne has made a significant contribution, featuring 32 times in all competitions and scoring four goals. This form could see him recalled to the squad, especially with other important midfielders either unavailable through injury (Josh Cullen) or having played very little this season owing to injury (Will Smallbone).

2. Conor Coventry

The most natural replacement for Josh Cullen available to Ireland. The parallels are multiple — both were born in England and qualified to represent the Republic through relatives, both came through the academy at West Ham but had to go elsewhere to secure regular first-team football, and both are perceived as solid, reliable defensive midfielders with good positional awareness — specialist 6s that Ireland have found difficult to unearth of late. Cullen is four years older than Coventry and, consequently, has achieved more in his career thus far. But the 25-year-old has started to come into his own, making his senior debut off the bench in pressurised circumstances during the 2-0 win against Portugal, having set a record number of appearances (25) for the U21s in 2022. Coventry has also arguably had his best season to date, featuring 37 times in all competitions for Charlton in the Championship, having also impressed in 44 appearances with the Addicks in League One last year.

3. David McGoldrick

Speculation has intensified in recent weeks that McGoldrick could earn a shock recall to the Ireland squad, having announced his international retirement in 2020, in the wake of the disappointing playoff defeat to Slovakia. Both the player himself and Hallgrímsson (when quizzed on the matter in Galway last week by LOItalk) have done little to dispel speculation of his return. There are others ahead of McGoldrick in the pecking order, but with Evan Ferguson injured and doubts over Adam Idah’s fitness, it does not seem too outlandish an idea. The 38-year-old, who scored one goal in 14 appearances for his country between 2014 and 2020, has excelled in League One with Conor Hourihane’s Barnsley. The striker has 17 goals from 35 appearances in all competitions this season, including 12 in his last 13.

4. Jamie McGrath

McGrath has 13 caps for Ireland and briefly established himself as a regular during the Stephen Kenny era. But an ill-advised move to Wigan, in which he made only two appearances, hampered his international career. His only appearance so far under Hallgrímsson came as a substitute in the 2-1 Nations League win against Finland in October 2024. But the 29-year-old was a late call-up for the Portugal and Hungary games last November, making the matchday squad for both fixtures. In addition, Hallgrímsson has issues in terms of attacking options. Festy Ebosele is suspended for the Czechia game, Mikey Johnstone has been ruled out, Chiedozie Ogbene has made just two substitute appearances for Sheffield United since getting injured in the Hungary game, and Andrew Moran has only played three times (twice off the bench) since signing for Preston in January. Consequently, McGrath could end up becoming an integral player in this window, particularly as he has been enjoying a fine season with Hibernian, scoring nine goals in 35 appearances in all competitions for the side, who are fifth in the Scottish Premiership.

5. Callum O’Dowda

Callum O’Dowda has 32 caps but feels like the forgotten man of Irish football. The 30-year-old has played only twice since  Hallgrímsson took charge, with his most recent appearance in the 5-0 Nations League loss to England at Wembley. Injury problems have restricted his game time since then, and while O’Dowda has played 22 times this season for Robbie Keane’s Ferencváros, he only recently returned from his latest setback and has played four matches since the turn of the year. But with Liam Scales suspended and doubts persisting over Robbie Brady’s fitness, Ireland aren’t blessed with an abundance of options in the left wing-back role. Ryan Manning has been having a positive impact in recent games, but O’Dowda is conceivably next in line after the Southampton star, with Josh Honohan unlikely to feature, as he still waits for his Lincoln City debut amid an injury-ridden start to life in England.