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Troy Parrott. Oisin Keniry/INPHO
Drought

Parrott ends lengthy absence of Irish players from top six English teams

An Irish player hasn’t played a first-team, competitive game for England’s elite in 2554 days.

TROY PARROTT WILL tonight break a long-running statistic that reflects the decline of Irish football in recent year:  his selection against Colchester in the League Cup is the first time an Irish player has played a competitive, first-team game for one of the Premier League’s top six clubs in 2,554 days. 

The last Irish appearance at England’s elite was Robbie Brady’s for Manchester United, as an 86th-minute substitute in a League Cup win over Newcastle on 26 September 2012. 

Parrott will also become Spurs’ first Irish player since Robbie Keane, who played his last game for the club on 5 January 2011, a 2-1 defeat to Everton in which Seamus Coleman scored the decisive goal. 

Tomorrow night, meanwhile, Irish U21 goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher looks set to become Liverpool’s first Irish player since, um, Robbie Keane. 

Kelleher is set for a senior debut against MK Dons tomorrow, and will be the first Irish player picked for the club since Keane played in a 1-1 draw at Wigan on 28 January 2009.

Irish U21 defender Conor Masterson came close to playing for Liverpool since, even making the bench for some of the club’s knockout ties in the 2017/18 Champions League, but ultimately failed to make an appearance. 

There is a grimmer tale to be told at the other big clubs.

Shay Given is the last Irish international to play for Manchester City, his final appearance for the club coming in a 1-1 Europa League group stage draw away to Juventus on 16 December 2010. 

Damien Duff, meanwhile, remains the last Irish player to make an appearance for Chelsea: his final game for the club came in a 1-0 loss to Newcastle on 7 May, 2006. 

Although no Irish player made an impact under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, he did hand out a couple of opportunities, and the last Irish player he picked for the first team was Conor Henderson, who played in a 5-0 FA Cup replay win over Leyton Orient on 2 March 2011. 

Henderson is still playing – he is currently with Bulgarian club Pirin Blagoevgrad. 

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