August 2006
Shock senior call up for St Ledger...28/08/2006
Stephen Staunton sprung a major surprise with the call up of 21 year old Birmingham born defender Sean St Ledger to replace the injured Stephen Kelly in the squad to face Germany on Saturday. The 6 foot tall St Ledger has started all of Preston North End's matches in central defence this season, following his transfer from Peterborough during the summer. Barnsley goalkeeper Nick Colgan has also joined the squad to replace the injured Paddy Kenny.
Givens forced to make changes to U21 Squad...28/08/2006
Don Givens has recalled UCD midfielder Gary Dicker and eighteen year old Anthony Stokes to the squad to face Belgium on Friday next in Galway. Darron Gibson and Jay Tabb have both withdrawn through injury.
World Champions too strong for Irish Women...26/08/2006
Noel King's Republic of Ireland Senior Women's team lost their final World Cup Qualifying Group game this afternoon. World Champions Germany took the lead after two minutes and a further brace of goals before half time settled the match. The Irish women put in a much improved second half performance and King's squad will look to build upon those efforts in the future. Ireland next play Italy in a friendly at Richmond Park on Saturday 9 September 2006.
Paris in the Fall for Derry City...25/08/2006
Ireland's sole European survivors Derry City, were today drawn to meet French giants Paris St Germain in the next round of the UEFA Cup. Following their impressive progress against Gothenberg and Gretna, the 'Candystripes' will look forward with some relish to competing with their French opponents. Derry are at home in the first leg on Thursday 14 September with the second leg scheduled for 28 September 2006 in Paris.
Dramatic exit brings despair to Drogheda...24/08/2006
Drogheda United exited the UEFA Cup in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in Dalymount Park tonight. Trailing 1 nil from the first leg against IK Start of Norway, the Setanta Cup holders played with calm composure and scored a merited equaliser through Eamon Zayed, six minutes from the end of normal time. Extra time failed to produce a goal and the tie was decided on a penalty shoot-out. All 22 players on the pitch at the end of extra time took a penalty before the Norwegian side triumphed by 11-10.
Disciplined Derry City through to next round...24/08/2006
Derry City entertained Scottish side Gretna in the second leg of the UEFA Cup qualifying round at the Brandywell tonight. Following their emphatic 5-1 away success in the first leg, Derry were always favourites to progress. Despite the concession of an early goal the 'Candystripes. remained disciplined and focused to secure a 2-2 draw and move into the first round proper, the draw for which takes place in Nyon, Switzerland tomorrow.
Ireland squad for Germany...21/08/2006
 Stephen Staunton welcomes back Shay Given, Richard Dunne, Damien Duff, Stephen Ireland and captain Robbie Keane for the European Championship qualifier with Germany in Stuttgart. Defender Ian Harte remains unavailable through injury, The squad also sees the return of Gary Doherty as central defensive cover and the retention of winger Alan O'Brien. The biggest surprise is the omission of Andy Reid who returned to Premiership action with Charlton Athletic on Saturday last.
Ireland climb one place in FIFA rankings...19/08/2006
Despite not playing a game during June and July, the Republic of Ireland has moved up one place to 38 in the latest FIFA international rankings. Our Senior Women, managed by Noel King, retain their FIFA ranking of 32.
Stalemate for U19s in Terryland Park...18/08/2006
Manager Sean McCaffrey took the opportunity to view the remainer of his squad in this second encounter with Ukraine in Galway on Thursday evening. Ireland dominated the majority of the match against the gifted Eastern Europeans and were unlucky not to win the game which ended scoreless. Sean McCaffrey must now ponder upon the squad he will select for the first phase of the European qualifiers to be played in Macedonia during October 2006.
Joy in Athens for U21s...17/08/2006
Goals from new West Bromwich Albion recruit Paul McShane and Glen Whelan of Sheffield Wednesday secured an excellent victory for Ireland over Greece in the European Championship qualifier played in Athens last night. The result puts Ireland in a position to win the group by defeating Belgium in Galway on Friday 1 September 2006. The group winners will enter a two legged play off to reach the finals to be held in Holland during June 2007.
Terryland Triumph for U19s...15/08/2006
Goals from Keith Treacy and Anthony Mason helped the Ireland U19 side to a hard earned 2-1 victory over Ukraine in Terryland Park, Galway tonight. Manager Sean McCaffrey was pleased with the general performance and said that he had identified some new players for his European Championship squad.
Ireland squad decimated by withdrawals…13/08/2006
 Stephen Staunton's Republic of Ireland squad for the friendly with Holland next Wednesday has suffered seven withdrawals. Captain Robbie Keane and vice captain Shay Given are joined on the injury list by Manchester City pair Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland. Defender Ian Harte and strikers Terry Dixon and Alan Lee are the other absentees. Staunton has called up Blackburn Rovers midfielder Jonathan Douglas and Sunderland striker Daryl Murphy to the squad. The young Waterford man, Murphy has started the season in sparkling form despite his club's poor results. With the opening European Championship tie with Germany only seventeen days after the Dutch encounter, the major disruption to the squad is a severe blow to Ireland's preparations.
Dynamic Derry City demolish Gretna…10/08/2006
 Despite conceding a goal twelve minutes into the game, Derry City staged a magnificent recovery to thrash Gretna 5-1 in the away first leg of this UEFA Cup tie. Centre back Damian Kelly scored the equaliser on twenty two minutes and the sides went in level at half-time. Ten minutes into the second half, a two goal burst in two minutes from U21 international Kevin Deery put the 'Candystripes' in command. A further brace of goals from Sligoman Ciaran Martyn on sixty three and seventy five minutes emphasised their superiority.
Drogheda still in with a fighting chance…10/08/2006
Drogheda United played with calm composure throughout the majority of their away UEFA Cup first leg with Norwegian outfit IK Start. The 'Boynesiders' can consider themselves very unlucky to have conceded the only goal of the match, scored by Norwegian international Stromstad, midway through the second half. The return leg in Dalymount Park in two week's time is likely to be a tense affair but Drogheda will believe they can overturn the deficit.
Dixon and O'Brien in Staunton's squad…08/08/2006
Stephen Staunton sprung several surprises when he announced his squad for the forthcoming fixture with Holland. The inclusion of 16 year old Terry Dixon of Tottenham Hotspur and Newcasle United winger Alan O'Brien was unexpected and is an obvious indication that Staunton has an eye to the future as well as the present. Missing from the squad are the injured Joey O'Brien and Andy Reid while Gary Breen has announced his retirement from international football.
Shelbourne through to League Cup Final…07/08/2006
A goal twelve minutes from time secured an Eircom League Cup Final place for form side Shelbourne. Eircom League player of the month for July 2006, Joseph Ndo, scored the winning goal. Opponents Bohemians put up a brave show despite the dismissal of Vinny Arkins after eight minutes. The 'Gypsies' also had Jason McGuinnes dismissed in the final minutes of the tie.
U18s deliver in Dalymount…06/08/2006
The Republic of Ireland U18 team, comprised wholly of home based players, scored a comfortable3-1success over Malta in Dalymount Park on Sunday evening. St Kevins star Emeka Onwubiko opened the scoring in the ninth minute with an excellent finish. Ireland conceded a shock equaliser after half an hour, the result of casual defending. However, further goals from Belvedere strikers David Connolly and Daniel Corcoran secured a comfortable victory.
U17s lose third place play-off…05/08/2006
The Republic of Ireland U17 team was defeated 2-1 by Slovakia in this afternoon's third place play-off game in the Hungarian International Tournament. Ireland conceded two first half goals to their physically imposing opponents and never fully recovered. A second half goal from Crystal Palace striker Sean Scannell, his third of the Tournament, was not enough to save the game. Despite the result, manager Sean McCaffrey was satisfied with the general performance of his squad in all three games. The manager and players now look forward to the European Championship qualifiers to be played in Azerbaijan from the 23rd to the 28th September 2006.
U17s punished by Poland…03/08/2006
Manager Sean McCaffrey gave the remainder of his new U17 squad the opportunity to express themselves in this afternoon's clash with Poland. The Irish lads took time to settle and found themselves two down within twenty minutes. A goal from Liverpool midfielder Shane O'Connor cut the deficit but a well drilled Poland restored their two goal advantage before half time. The second half was goal less in deteriorating conditions but nevertheless afforded the manager the opportunity to further evaluate his squad.
Cork City exit Europe…02/08/2006
Eircom League champions Cork City exited the UEFA Champions League in Belgrade this evening when they were defeated 3 nil by Crvena Zvezda. The Serbian side held a 1 nil lead from last week's first leg in Cork and a goal after only two minutes set then on the road to an aggregate 4 nil victory With three regulars suspended and midfield star George O'Callaghan on his way out of the club, Cork were no match for the former European Cup winners.
U21 squad for European Championship qualifiers…02/08/2006
Manager Don Givens has selected four of last season's U19 squad for the European Championship qualifiers with Greece in Athens on 16 August 2006 and Belgium in Galway on Friday 1 September 2006. Goalkeeper Darren Randolph will be joined by defender Darren O'Dea and the very talented Darron Gibson of Manchester United. Arsenal's 18 year old striker Anthony Stokes has also been selected and will be withdrawn from the U19 squad to face the Ukraine.
Double U17 strike by Scannell…02/08/2006
The Republic of Ireland U17 team commenced preparations for the European Championship qualifiers with a fine 2 nil victory over Serbia in their opening International Tournament game in Hungary this afternoon. Debutant striker Sean Scannell of Crystal Palace scored both goals in the second half. Manager Sean McCaffrey expressed delight at the performance of his young charges and now looks forward to tomorrow's tie against Poland.
U19 Squad for Galway double header with Ukraine…02/08/2006
Manager Sean McCaffrey has named an 18 man squad for the upcoming U19 fixtures against Ukraine in Terryland Park, Galway on Tuesday 15 and Thursday 17 August 2006. The squad inlcludes six survivors from last year and also includes Keith Tracey who has been involved with the Blackburn Rovers first team in the build up to the new season.
Home based U18 squad meet Malta…01/08/2006
An 18 man squad comprised of home based players will take on Malta in a friendly international at 7.00pm on Sunday 6 August 2006 in Dalymount Park. The squad will be led by FAI Player Development Manager John Morling and includes Stephen Lawless who was a member of the U17 squad successful in the Ukraine last year before injury ended his season. The exciting St Kevin's Boys striker Emeka Onwubiko is also in the squad.