Dundalk goalkeeper Gary Rogers says that the League of Ireland is now a viable route to playing high level football in England for the youth of the country, as the league is far more competitive than academy football played in the UK.
Speaking to Off The Ball's Joe Molloy ahead of his side's clash with Cork City this weekend, Rogers expelled the virtues of the league for younger players.
"I do think that playing in the League of Ireland, playing senior mens football in a very competitive league is obviously going to be to the of benefit of the players, as opposed to playing academy football where really there's not a lot at stake".
"Any of the young players who played in the Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers game, they know they've played in a proper match then, and that type of experience is going to benefit them down the line".
Rogers said that the league's standard have been raised in recent years due to the success of Dundalk and Cork, as well as what sides have done in Europe, which is a huge benefit to younger players who may have struggled for senior game time in England.
"I think the 10 team league this year, with the players being condensed into 10 teams, there won't be an easy game all season long you'd like to think, with the quality of the opposition week to week".
"Look at the standard of the games we've played over the last few years, and what teams have done in Europe as well, you can see that the levels have been raised and the expectations have been raised, which is good for everyone in the league".
"There's lot of young players doing really well in our league. With players that have gone away in the past, the likes of Kevin Doyle, or you see Sean Maguire recently, players are seeing what other lads are doing and they're saying 'look, I can do that as well'. So it's a great opportunity now for players in this league to go on and play at a higher level as well".
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