Former Ireland international Niall Quinn has said he wants to stop young Irish players leaving for England at such an early age.
Speaking to The Sun yesterday, the 49-year-old talked about the "carnage" of young players leaving for England: "I would definitely be interested in getting involved in offering an alternative to kids being whisked away from here at 16. There’s too much carnage when 93 per cent of the players who go over aren’t getting a second contract."
He further highlighted that Irish internationals such as Wes Hoolahan, James McClean and Seamus Coleman moved to England and Scotland after playing regular first team football in the League of Ireland.
“It boils down to trying to throw a bit of rock and roll into the League of Ireland for it to come out of the shadows. There is a leap of faith and an initial investment required."
Quinn has recently spoken about how the League of Ireland can improve finances coming into the Divisions. The 92-time capped international thinks selling television rights to foreign countries could help the teams prosper, and a step towards that was taken with the announcement on Thursday of streaming rights for the league abroad.
[via The Sun]
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
