Paul Fennessy reports from the Aviva Stadium

THERE WILL BE no prizes for guessing the identity of the FAI’s next Senior International Player of the Year.

After Robbie Brady took home the prize last year, Troy Parrott will be the heavy favourite to claim the honour for performances over the last 12 months.

While five goals against Portugal and Hungary in November were always going to be a tough act to follow, the 24-year-old did his reputation no harm in this latest international window, scoring two penalties in Prague and collecting another man-of-the-match award last night.

A constant threat, Parrott was also unlucky not to get on the scoresheet against North Macedonia, scoring two offside goals, one of which was marginal, and seeing another effort ricochet off the post.

The Dubliner was part of a group of exciting Irish young strikers that emerged at roughly the same time.

Others included Adam Idah, Aaron Connolly, Evan Ferguson, and Michael Obafemi.

All of these players were considered phenomenal talents for their age group. While it is too early to write any of them off, Parrott is the one who currently appears to be blossoming and starting to fulfil his potential.

A big reason for the striker’s elevation from raw youngster to star man for the Irish team has been the crucial decision to play for a sustained period beyond Britain — the traditional home for Ireland’s elite footballers.

Highly thought of at Spurs as a youngster, Parrott had four loan spells in England — none of his stints at Millwall, Ipswich Town or MK Dons were unequivocal successes.

In his most recent stab at English football, the Belvedere youth product ended the 2022-23 season with an underwhelming three goals in 32 appearances in the Championship with Preston North End.

At that point, it felt like a real possibility that Parrott could become one of the many wonderkids who fade into obscurity despite an abundance of talent.

Instead, his decision to move to the Netherlands, initially with Excelsior and then AZ Alkmaar, has paid dividends.

With 28 goals from 41 appearances, this season at club level has been his best yet, and the confidence derived from that success has translated to the international scene.

Yet Parrott still feels like a relative anomaly.

While it is higher than ever nowadays, owing to Brexit-related rules preventing Irish players from moving to Britain until the age of 18, the number of footballers from this island moving to other top leagues like Germany and France is still relatively low.

Of the 26 players used in the latest window by Heimir Hallgrímsson, taking into account purely this season (i.e. loan rather than parent clubs), five play in the Premier League, 17 in the Championship, two in League One and one in the Scottish Premiership.

Parrott is the only non-British-based player.

Festy Ebosele is one of the few other Irish internationals who has tried his luck beyond Britain. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

İstanbul Başakşehir’s Festy Ebosele might have added to that number but was left out of the latest squad partially because he was suspended for the Czechia game, Roma’s Evan Ferguson would have been selected if fit, and James Abankwah is still technically a Udinese player, even if he has made only eight appearances in Serie A since joining the Italian club in 2022, spending the majority of the last few seasons on loan in England.

But the overriding point still stands.

The number of high-profile Irish players who try their luck abroad is minuscule.

And the percentage of those who succeed is even smaller.

Liam Brady won two Serie A titles with Juventus. Tony Cascarino and David Connolly had prolific spells in France and the Netherlands, respectively.

And more recently, Jake O’Brien impressed during a season each in Belgium and France.

But it is difficult to think of many Irish individuals who have enjoyed comparable success to that of Parrott in the Eredivisie, partly because few have tried. And those who have are often back closer to home within six months. Some of Parrott’s contemporaries, including Connolly and Obafemi, for instance, briefly played away from England. Unfortunately, each managed only a handful of first-team appearances on loan at Venezia and Bochum, respectively, with injuries contributing to their undoing.

Yet an international squad that incorporates a diverse array of footballing cultures can often thrive.

France went from years of underachievement and failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup to winning the tournament outright four years later, in addition to triumphing at Euro 2000 amid a golden generation of talent.

Part of the reason credited for this success was their players’ increasing willingness to compete abroad. Their 1998 squad featured a healthy balance of French-based players, coupled with those plying their trade in Germany, Italy, Spain and England.

It also seems fair to suggest that tempo, style and tactics at international level are more reminiscent of the Eredivisie than the Championship — another reason why Parrott has excelled, while others have adapted less seamlessly.

Similarly, England’s second tier is an exhausting, 46-game-a-season physical marathon. Except for teams that make the playoffs, it is relatively rare that you face an incredibly high-stakes, must-win encounter. Coventry City, the division’s table toppers at the time of writing, have dropped points in 15 out of 39 matches.

For many, arguably even most Irish players, Prague would have been the biggest game of their careers. And this unfamiliar pressure led to many unforced errors and costly mistakes professional footballers would not ordinarily make.

Whereas if you are playing for a team that regularly competes in the top flight and Champions League, or even the Europa/Conference League (like Parrott does), you are less likely to freeze on big occasions.

That is not to say every Irish player is better off avoiding England and Scotland. Every footballer is different, and joining another club, no matter where they are based, always comes with a degree of risk. The financial incentives are also a major factor — the Premier League and even the Championship are among the richest in Europe.

But Parrott’s trajectory proves it is possible to flourish on the continent, and Irish football as a whole would surely benefit if others within the squad opted to follow suit.

It is also one reason why the Irish forward might be better off avoiding the opportunity to return to England should it come his way this summer, and instead, move to AC Milan, Dortmund, Ajax or one of the many other top European clubs that have been linked with his signature.