Since Robbie Keane’s international retirement on August 31 2016, Irish strikers have scored a grand total of seven goals between them, including friendlies. Three of which were scored by the now retired Darryl Murphy, two by Jonathan Walters, who is now 35, one by Shane Long who is 32, and finally one by Aidan O’Brien in a friendly against Poland.

As much as this might highlight the brilliance of Keane and how we may not have appreciated his talent while he represented his country, it also underlines the undeniable fact that as a nation, we seem to be unable to produce goalscorers anymore. True, Keane is our all-time top scorer, a once in a generation type player, but there was a life before Robbie Keane for Ireland, with Aldridge, Cascarino, Quinn and Stapleton to name but a few, and this provides enough optimism to suggest that there maybe a life after Keane too.

This shortage of sharp shooters is symbolic of a systematic failure within Irish football to produce top quality players, and not just goalscorers. A look around the Premier League’s top 10/12 teams provides proof of this. They are no longer littered with Irish internationals like Robbie or his namesake Roy. The obvious reason for this is that the Premier League has become increasingly multi national. The increase in resources has inevitably led to an improved scouting network, and therefore a larger pool of players to pick from. Ireland being so close to the UK is no longer as great of an advantage as it once was as the world becomes a seemingly smaller place year on year.

Tackling this problem is complicated. Irish football is an even worse state off the pitch than it is on it. The FAI, following the high profile saga of removing John Delaney from his position as chief executive and the scandal that surrounded it, is still in the midst of crisis as six separate entities file over their financial record books. This alleged ‘reformation’ shows no sign of coming to an end and Irish football has no time on the pitch to await the blue skies that arrive at the end of every storm. If we keep relying on English clubs to do the work they once did for Irish football, another generation of potential international quality players will be failed by the system.

The changing English landscape means that we have been left with no other option than to provide coaching and facilities on our own soil. If so, its certainly not happening now, and if the FAI are deemed incapable, what can anyone do? How do we promote our own players? What steps, from the top of Irish football to the bottom, need to be taken? Essentially, what does Irish football need?

The League of Ireland (LOI) and the FAI are the two main governing bodies responsible for organizing association football in the Republic of Ireland. The two bodies formally merged in 2006, which essentially meant that the FAI governed the league from that point on. Soccer in Ireland has always, and probably will always, play second fiddle to the GAA. This wasn’t always a massive problem for the league, with attendances in the 1930s, 40s and 50s extremely positive at grounds like Dalymount and Tolka Park.

However, by the 1980s, England was the place to be for young aspiring soccer players, and this idea was amplified during the Jack Charlton era, as no LOI player represented Ireland in any of Charlton’s major championship conquests. In the 2000s, the recession hit clubs like Shelbourne and Cork City hard as the league suffered further. Giovanni Trapatoni condemned the LOI when in charge of the national side, when in a press conference he stated that there was no league in Ireland from which to select players. Granted, Trapatoni’s English was never excellent, but he was the face of the FAI and fans of the league received this message loud and clear.

In the last four years or so, the LOI has seen a positive swing in it’s development, on the back of good work by various clubs within the league. Clubs have developed community links, their own youth systems and some innovative marketing strategies to raise their own profile. Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians, Cork City and Dundalk all frequently sell out their respective grounds off the back of their own good work, and for the first time since the 1960s there is optimism surrounding the league. This has been reflected by clubs receiving fees from England, players going over later than they used to, European runs such as Dundalk’s in 2016 and young players that spent their teenage years at big clubs in England coming home and playing in the league, to put themselves in the shop window. Following a LOI club has been seen as something ‘hipster’ in the last 50 years or so, and as a result a niche community of LOI supporters, which is growing by every match day at this stage, has formed. The use of social media has helped greatly, and the #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld campaign has been widely successful.

Although the LOI community and John Delaney seldom saw eye to eye during his time in charge, it should always be remembered that the two share the same common interest- the success of Irish football. The LOI has often been described as the problem child of Irish football. The league has undeniably been underfunded, under-marketed and largely ignored by the association, particularly since the Charlton era, which has led to a feeling of resentment towards the FAI. John Delaney’s departure couldn’t have come a second earlier for fans who had been calling for his head for the guts of ten years and more. All of this emotion has led to a lack of trust between the two, particularly from the LOI community towards the FAI.

As we have seen, England are no longer producing Irish players and something from the Irish football’s standpoint needs to change. One change that is essential for the progression of Irish football is that the LOI is embraced rather than shunted to one side. As highlighted before, the good work that has been done by clubs has opened the public’s mind that instead of some Sunday league type nuisance, the LOI is in fact at a point where, from both a football and business standpoint, it is a product that can be honed and exploited to develop Irish football as a whole.

The strategies employed by clubs like Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers have merely exploited the natural product that is already there. The league, it must be remembered has always been present within Irish football. It’s not like the MLS across the Atlantic or the A-League in Australia where new clubs have been set up in the last twenty years or so as they try to grow their game and develop their own culture from scratch.

The green and white stripes of Shamrock Rovers have long been synonymous with Irish football, and a match day trip to Dalymount Park is like a step into the past as it remains the same stadium that has hosted a range of superstars, from a young Zinedine Zidane to a musical genius in Bob Marley.

The rivalry between the aforementioned clubs is rooted within Irish football, and the passion on display from both sets of supporters is something promoters such as David Beckham in the bright lights of Miami could only dream to replicate. This has been mirrored in the battle for supremacy between Cork and Dundalk over the last four years, and this authenticity is something money simply cannot buy.

The quality of football is something that an Irish supporter of the Premier League will routinely point to as a reason for not following the LOI. Although this may have been true in the past, it is a lazy argument nowadays to anyone who follows a LOI club from week to week. Stephen Kenny (the next Ireland manager) and his Dundalk side who made it to the group stages of the Europa League in 2016 were lauded for their exciting brand of possession based football, and cries as to why the national team couldn’t replicate this style, with allegedly superior players, became heard.

Of the ten teams in the LOI premier division this year, only Cork and Finn Harps could really be accused of not playing ‘good football’ (with Cork much maligned for their battle hardened style in big games against Dundalk over the last four years, in which it should be noted they won two FAI cups and a league, and Finn Harps the side rooted to the foot of the table and by far the club with the least resources and as a result worst playing surface in the league). This has been helped by young players coming home from England and raising the standards of football, but the reason they are coming home remains a product of the good work done by clubs.

So whats the problem then?

The overriding sense of a lack of interest from the FAI is the source of most of the frustration from the LOI community. €110,000 was awarded to the Premier Division winner in 2016, with that figure halved for the team came in second. Although prize money has risen since, it is still far more profitable and less financially straining for a club to get through even one round of qualifying in Europe, be that in the Europa League or Champions League.

In the last couple of years, developments to Dalymount Park, United Park in Drogheda and Richmond Park in Inchicore have all been rumored and seem to be in the works, none of which are being funded by the FAI, with clubs having to go the route of council grants or external investors to get anything done. The improvement in facilities go hand in hand with an improved league as the match day experience for fans becomes more enjoyable and attracts more crowds to games, with clubs then being able to accommodate for larger numbers with more efficiency.

However, it is naive to think that throwing money at the problem will cure Irish football. What is needed from the FAI, or whoever runs the league in the future, is clear, structured and cohesive planning. That, over the last number of years, hasn’t been present.

The strategy of those who finance and run the league has shown huge flaws and discrepancies, such as the much maligned fixture list with the longest off season in Europe and its clear bias towards accommodating for clubs involved in Europe at the expense of those who miss out. It seems that it is suited to the strong becoming stronger and the gap widening between them and the chasing pack. Every country wants to support their teams in Europe, however the strategy in Ireland stinks of a lack of planning and foresight.

And that’s only the fixture list. Similar problems such as the introduction of the All Ireland underage leagues and advertising of the league have left much to be desired. The initial exclusion of traditional schoolboy clubs who have done stellar work in the past by producing players that go over to England, particularly in Dublin, from the new underage structure, and the distribution of viewing rights to RTE every year (whose coverage of the league is often sub par at best) is striking as lazy and inconsiderate.

Again, the ‘problem child’ of Irish football is granted either a quick fix for a long term problem or half-hearted attempt at coming to a resolution. There is no magic formula that can be applied to the league to improve it, and just as the uniqueness of the league is one of it’s main selling points, the Irish footballing landscape is unparalleled and will take time, effort and a coherent strategy to reach it’s full potential.

So who can conduct this much needed change in the Irish footballing landscape?

The FAI are in turmoil and at the beginning of a long process of reform with no end in sight anytime soon. Not only are they in no position to try to turn around the fortunes of the league, but any sort of trust that was present between them and LOI clubs has long since evaporated at this stage. In Sligo Rovers’ mid season statement they declared that the FAI had ‘very significant issues’ and have left the LOI ‘seriously underfunded’. On top of change within the FAI promising to be both arduous and grueling, the PR blueprint around the John Delaney scandal was at times puzzling to say the least, and there are also reports that all but one of the current FAI board plan to seek re-election at the end of July.

With the FAI clearly neither trusted by the clubs nor in a position to make any significant change, alternative avenues are being explored. A group proposing the establishment of an all-island league and a consortium led by Niall Quinn have both been invited by the FAI to speak at a forum to discuss the future of the League of Ireland. The all island league is an idea that has floated around for years now, with a consortium said to be involved with Brian Kerr now taking steps to put it into reality. They are said to have had contact with LOI clubs, something Niall Quinn’s consortium seem to have failed to do.

As already outlined, the lack of trust between clubs and those who govern the league is already a major issue, and those involved in the league voiced various concerns about Quinn’s consortium’s proposal in the form of a 31-page plan after stakeholders said it lacked any concrete proposals of what it was actually planning to do. In regards to an all island league, there are numerous stumbling blocks, beyond the obvious threat of brexit. Any fears that a new proposal might ride an anti-FAI wave into existence have been quickly extinguished.

Regardless of who is in charge, the league will never reach it’s full potential without clear, concise planning and a willingness from all parties to put these plans into action. Co-operation is going to be necessary, from the fans, clubs and whatever governing body is put in place. Ultimately, the outlook needs to change.

Just because the FAI no longer runs the league, doesn’t mean the two cannot work together, because ultimately they each still strive for the same thing. It just means that the FAI can no longer hold it back.

Irish football fans need to realize that no one is going to do our job for us anymore, and that there is plenty that we as fans can do, regardless of what is happening at the top table of Irish football. . It is up to us to get out and support Irish football, and that means the LOI. Kids need to be brought up attending games, dreaming of walking out at Turners Cross or Tallaght Stadium in front of their own fans. They need to be raised around the passion and reality of football, not some TV show that happens in far away countries.

The LOI is never going to be the Premier League, but that’s exactly the point. The LOI offers something the Premier League never can, real football right on our doorstep. If we ever needed an example of what we as fans can do, look at the wave of support that ultimately got Stephen Kenny the opportunity to be the next Republic of Ireland manager.

So the next time you go to an international game and come away complaining about the standard, think again before you do. Understand that there is something deeper to the problem, that you can make a difference by supporting football in your own country, and not just during each international break.

And who knows, maybe the next Robbie Keane is sitting on our doorstep, plying his trade with a club in the league. But if one thing is for certain, it’s that he will never progress unless Irish football gets behind him and allows him to improve, and that means from top to bottom.