Hi all,
I worked in Ireland for a few years and I was extremely impressed with the culture, it was an amazing experience and it’s fair to say that Ireland has a reserved place in my heart. As such, I have been playing a save in League of Ireland since FM14, but to be honest it’s extremely disappointing to see how poor League of Ireland is in real-life, the lack of support for the young lads who want to become football players, the waste that goes across the Irish sea and never return, the lack of support from the FAI towards the “league” – if you can call that a league – and how the CEO is payed more a year than the clubs actually earn in 4 or 5 years. The Irish are extremely passion about sports, and if there was a professional league - and a decent standard – and with all the rivalries that already exist, it would be so exciting.
So… I decided to create a Fantasy All-Ireland League. I developed this mostly for myself, but I am sharing it with everyone anyway! It took me a good few months to finish this and I tried to be very methodical about the whole thing. I have created 4 tiers, with 24 teams each, a mix of teams from Ireland and Northern Ireland (which I will share with you below). In terms of squads, I tried not to touch the biggest teams in the world, so I only moved players who have been overlooked by their managers or possible underrated players and Irish players. The idea was to create a Premier League-a-like, so I “brought” a few teams “back to life”, such as Cork Utd, Drumcondra, Belfast Celtic, and a good few more, which also throws a few more rivalries into equation. I also improved a good few players, specially Irish players, so we could fill the league with a lot of national players as well.
Historically speaking (obviously, on a fantasy level!), this league was formed after John Delaney was arrested and replaced by Liam Brady, who, together with Johnny Giles, gathered enough support and sponsors to create an All-Ireland league and guarantee its long-term sustainability. The financial support gathered allowed a massive investment into the clubs, which was used to not only sign world-class players and managers, but also to improve, drastically, its infrastructures. Please find below a brief profile of a few of these teams, just for a taste:
Premier League:
Dundalk FC
Linfield
Shamrock Rovers
Shelbourne
Bohemians
Bray Wanderers
Cliftonville
Cork City
Cork Utd
Crusaders
Derry City
Drogheda Utd
Fingal
Galway Utd
Glentoran
Kildare County
Kilkenny City
Limerick FC
Malahide Utd
Newcastlewest
Portadown
Sligo Rovers
St Pat's Athletic
Waterford Utd
Championship:
Armagh
Athlone Town
Ballymena Utd
Bray Unknowns
Castlebar
Cobh Ramblers
Coleraine
Cork Celtic
Distillery
Drumcondra
Finn Harps
Glenavon
Home Farm
Longford
Mervue Utd
Monaghan Utd
Salthill
Shamrock Rovers B
St Jame's Gate
St Kevin's Boys
Thurles Town
UCD
Westport Utd
Wexford Youths
Dundalk FC – Managed by Stephen Kenny
Dundalk have been dominating the Irish football for 3 years now, and they have an automatic place on Champions League. They decided to give Stephen Kenny, their most successful manager ever, a chance, and they used the money not only to improve their infrastructures, but to buy world-class players such as Marco Verrati, Mauro Icardi, Ricardo Rodriguez, James Rodriguez, “The New Robinho” Nicolas and Kevin Strootman, nevertheless Stephen Kenny insisted in keeping a few of his most trustworthy players like Daryl Horgan, Gary Rodgers and “The Irish Lampard” Richie Towell. They will be looking to win all competitions.
Linfield – Managed by David Jeffrey
The most successful team in Northern Ireland is looking to extend its domination. Just like Dundalk, Linfield will be playing in Champions league. They are seen and the Irish version of Glasgow Rangers, and they are hoping to keep the tradition that brought them as much success as controversy, and they trusted David Jeffrey (who they consider their own Sir Alex Ferguson) with the task of winning as many tittles as they possibly can and for this, the club brought two English Internationals (Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere), two Ivory Coast stars (Yaya Toure and Wilfried Zaha), and a few other stars such as Jonny Evans, Romelu Lukaku and Memphis Depay. There is a major rivalry, not only with Glentoran, but also with Shamrock Rovers. The fans are expecting great things!
Shamrock Rovers – Managed by Andy Reid
The most successful team in Republic of Ireland. They are all about developing young players, as they were in the past, and they used the money to invest in their infrastructures, creating the very first top Academy named after Paddy Coad. Besides this, they are honouring their reputation (the Irish team to supply more players to the Republic of Ireland National Team ever) and has sign a number of Irish internationals such as Harry Brady, Jeff Hendrick, Jack Byrne, Ciaran Clark and Ian Lawlor. A few other players born in England have since accepted to join Shamrock Rovers, who will be playing in the Champions League as well, although they have to go past the play-off stage, and accepted to play for Republic of Ireland, like Connor Wickham and Jack Grealish. Andy Reid can also count with promising youngsters like “The Next Irish Cristiano Ronaldo” Zachary Elbouzedi, “The Irish Beckenbauer” Fiacre Kelleher and Martin Odegaard. There seems to be a bright future for this Shamrock Rovers side.
Shelbourne – Managed by Rafa Benitez
Nicknamed by many as “The Irish Liverpool”, and it’s no surprise that they hired Rafa Benitez to do the job. They signed some real quality players (like Gerard Deulofeu, Isco and Diego Alves, to name a few) and are counting on “The New Steven Gerrard” Alex O’Hanlon to win some silverware. Robbie Keane also joined the club after being rejected by Shamrock Rovers, a move that will not go well within the Shamrock Rovers fans who would expect to see Robbie Keane with “the Hoops” shirt.
Limerick FC – Managed by Andre Villas-Boas
Limerick seems to be trying to copy Chelsea. They signed Villas-Boas who requested several players, some of them successfully joined Limerick (Joao Moutinho, Nani, Hulk, Falcao, Eliaquim Mangala, Yacine Brahimi, Danilo Luiz…) and they are also counting on Bastian Schweinsteiger to lead the way towards European qualification. Will Villas-Boas meet the expectations?
Cork City – Managed by Roberto Mancini
Cork City has been close from winning the league in the last two years, and they want to stay up there no matter what, so they threw money on experienced players such as Carlos Tevez, Ever Banega, Matija Nastasic, Luiz Gustavo, Fernando Muslera and mixed with a few young players like Bruma and Bernard Duarte. Roberto Mancini has a lot of money to work with, but it will be a hard battle.
Cork United – Managed by Ryan Giggs
Similar shirt, very different history though, the Cork natives are delighted with this come-back. Roy Keane was originally spoke as the favourite to manage the Cork Utd side, however the club surprised everyone and signed Ryan Giggs, who was able to convince Paul Scholes to join his staff. They managed to sign a couple of ex-Manchester United players (John O’Shea, Marcos Rojo and Chicharito), an experienced Irish International midfielder David Meyler possibly acting as Roy Keane in the midfield, and a good few promising Irish players such as “The Irish De Gea” Conor O’Malley, “The Irish Gary Neville” Brian Lenihan, Jordan Graham (who is often compared to Nani), Ryan Manning and Samir Carruthers. A young side who might have a lot of success, possibly in long-term. It will be a fierce battle against Cork City, which should be exciting for the fans!
Waterford Utd – Managed by Andrea Stramaccioni
Nicknamed the Leicester of Irish Football due to the similarty of players wth Leicester (Mehdi Carcela – Riyad Mahrez ; Reece Grego-*** – Jamie Vardy ; Ogenyi Onazi – N’Golo Kante; Marko Bakic – Danny Drinkwatter). Considering they have an Italian manager, can Andrea Stramaccioni also surprise everyone?
Roy Keane is managing Newcastlewest, also from the All-Ireland Premier League, and there should be a few battles with Cork Utd / Ryan Giggs due to the early fight for the job. It’s also worth mentioning that Belfast Celtic is currently on the 3rd Tier but they are managed by Henrik Larsson, and his son is part of the squad.
Please note I have done a good bit of testing, but if you find any bugs, please let me know.
Enjoy!
Download
I worked in Ireland for a few years and I was extremely impressed with the culture, it was an amazing experience and it’s fair to say that Ireland has a reserved place in my heart. As such, I have been playing a save in League of Ireland since FM14, but to be honest it’s extremely disappointing to see how poor League of Ireland is in real-life, the lack of support for the young lads who want to become football players, the waste that goes across the Irish sea and never return, the lack of support from the FAI towards the “league” – if you can call that a league – and how the CEO is payed more a year than the clubs actually earn in 4 or 5 years. The Irish are extremely passion about sports, and if there was a professional league - and a decent standard – and with all the rivalries that already exist, it would be so exciting.
So… I decided to create a Fantasy All-Ireland League. I developed this mostly for myself, but I am sharing it with everyone anyway! It took me a good few months to finish this and I tried to be very methodical about the whole thing. I have created 4 tiers, with 24 teams each, a mix of teams from Ireland and Northern Ireland (which I will share with you below). In terms of squads, I tried not to touch the biggest teams in the world, so I only moved players who have been overlooked by their managers or possible underrated players and Irish players. The idea was to create a Premier League-a-like, so I “brought” a few teams “back to life”, such as Cork Utd, Drumcondra, Belfast Celtic, and a good few more, which also throws a few more rivalries into equation. I also improved a good few players, specially Irish players, so we could fill the league with a lot of national players as well.
Historically speaking (obviously, on a fantasy level!), this league was formed after John Delaney was arrested and replaced by Liam Brady, who, together with Johnny Giles, gathered enough support and sponsors to create an All-Ireland league and guarantee its long-term sustainability. The financial support gathered allowed a massive investment into the clubs, which was used to not only sign world-class players and managers, but also to improve, drastically, its infrastructures. Please find below a brief profile of a few of these teams, just for a taste:
Premier League:
Dundalk FC
Linfield
Shamrock Rovers
Shelbourne
Bohemians
Bray Wanderers
Cliftonville
Cork City
Cork Utd
Crusaders
Derry City
Drogheda Utd
Fingal
Galway Utd
Glentoran
Kildare County
Kilkenny City
Limerick FC
Malahide Utd
Newcastlewest
Portadown
Sligo Rovers
St Pat's Athletic
Waterford Utd
Championship:
Armagh
Athlone Town
Ballymena Utd
Bray Unknowns
Castlebar
Cobh Ramblers
Coleraine
Cork Celtic
Distillery
Drumcondra
Finn Harps
Glenavon
Home Farm
Longford
Mervue Utd
Monaghan Utd
Salthill
Shamrock Rovers B
St Jame's Gate
St Kevin's Boys
Thurles Town
UCD
Westport Utd
Wexford Youths
Dundalk FC – Managed by Stephen Kenny
Dundalk have been dominating the Irish football for 3 years now, and they have an automatic place on Champions League. They decided to give Stephen Kenny, their most successful manager ever, a chance, and they used the money not only to improve their infrastructures, but to buy world-class players such as Marco Verrati, Mauro Icardi, Ricardo Rodriguez, James Rodriguez, “The New Robinho” Nicolas and Kevin Strootman, nevertheless Stephen Kenny insisted in keeping a few of his most trustworthy players like Daryl Horgan, Gary Rodgers and “The Irish Lampard” Richie Towell. They will be looking to win all competitions.
Linfield – Managed by David Jeffrey
The most successful team in Northern Ireland is looking to extend its domination. Just like Dundalk, Linfield will be playing in Champions league. They are seen and the Irish version of Glasgow Rangers, and they are hoping to keep the tradition that brought them as much success as controversy, and they trusted David Jeffrey (who they consider their own Sir Alex Ferguson) with the task of winning as many tittles as they possibly can and for this, the club brought two English Internationals (Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere), two Ivory Coast stars (Yaya Toure and Wilfried Zaha), and a few other stars such as Jonny Evans, Romelu Lukaku and Memphis Depay. There is a major rivalry, not only with Glentoran, but also with Shamrock Rovers. The fans are expecting great things!
Shamrock Rovers – Managed by Andy Reid
The most successful team in Republic of Ireland. They are all about developing young players, as they were in the past, and they used the money to invest in their infrastructures, creating the very first top Academy named after Paddy Coad. Besides this, they are honouring their reputation (the Irish team to supply more players to the Republic of Ireland National Team ever) and has sign a number of Irish internationals such as Harry Brady, Jeff Hendrick, Jack Byrne, Ciaran Clark and Ian Lawlor. A few other players born in England have since accepted to join Shamrock Rovers, who will be playing in the Champions League as well, although they have to go past the play-off stage, and accepted to play for Republic of Ireland, like Connor Wickham and Jack Grealish. Andy Reid can also count with promising youngsters like “The Next Irish Cristiano Ronaldo” Zachary Elbouzedi, “The Irish Beckenbauer” Fiacre Kelleher and Martin Odegaard. There seems to be a bright future for this Shamrock Rovers side.
Shelbourne – Managed by Rafa Benitez
Nicknamed by many as “The Irish Liverpool”, and it’s no surprise that they hired Rafa Benitez to do the job. They signed some real quality players (like Gerard Deulofeu, Isco and Diego Alves, to name a few) and are counting on “The New Steven Gerrard” Alex O’Hanlon to win some silverware. Robbie Keane also joined the club after being rejected by Shamrock Rovers, a move that will not go well within the Shamrock Rovers fans who would expect to see Robbie Keane with “the Hoops” shirt.
Limerick FC – Managed by Andre Villas-Boas
Limerick seems to be trying to copy Chelsea. They signed Villas-Boas who requested several players, some of them successfully joined Limerick (Joao Moutinho, Nani, Hulk, Falcao, Eliaquim Mangala, Yacine Brahimi, Danilo Luiz…) and they are also counting on Bastian Schweinsteiger to lead the way towards European qualification. Will Villas-Boas meet the expectations?
Cork City – Managed by Roberto Mancini
Cork City has been close from winning the league in the last two years, and they want to stay up there no matter what, so they threw money on experienced players such as Carlos Tevez, Ever Banega, Matija Nastasic, Luiz Gustavo, Fernando Muslera and mixed with a few young players like Bruma and Bernard Duarte. Roberto Mancini has a lot of money to work with, but it will be a hard battle.
Cork United – Managed by Ryan Giggs
Similar shirt, very different history though, the Cork natives are delighted with this come-back. Roy Keane was originally spoke as the favourite to manage the Cork Utd side, however the club surprised everyone and signed Ryan Giggs, who was able to convince Paul Scholes to join his staff. They managed to sign a couple of ex-Manchester United players (John O’Shea, Marcos Rojo and Chicharito), an experienced Irish International midfielder David Meyler possibly acting as Roy Keane in the midfield, and a good few promising Irish players such as “The Irish De Gea” Conor O’Malley, “The Irish Gary Neville” Brian Lenihan, Jordan Graham (who is often compared to Nani), Ryan Manning and Samir Carruthers. A young side who might have a lot of success, possibly in long-term. It will be a fierce battle against Cork City, which should be exciting for the fans!
Waterford Utd – Managed by Andrea Stramaccioni
Nicknamed the Leicester of Irish Football due to the similarty of players wth Leicester (Mehdi Carcela – Riyad Mahrez ; Reece Grego-*** – Jamie Vardy ; Ogenyi Onazi – N’Golo Kante; Marko Bakic – Danny Drinkwatter). Considering they have an Italian manager, can Andrea Stramaccioni also surprise everyone?
Roy Keane is managing Newcastlewest, also from the All-Ireland Premier League, and there should be a few battles with Cork Utd / Ryan Giggs due to the early fight for the job. It’s also worth mentioning that Belfast Celtic is currently on the 3rd Tier but they are managed by Henrik Larsson, and his son is part of the squad.
Please note I have done a good bit of testing, but if you find any bugs, please let me know.
Enjoy!
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