The Emerald Isle has produced many gems in its time with world famous exports such as Guinness, Taytos, and Michael Duff. With St Patrick’s Day, a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, on the horizon, it’s time to take a look at some of the finest Irish and Northern Irish players to pull on the red and white of Cheltenham Town.
The current Robins squad, who enjoyed their day out at the races this week are captained by Irishman Sean Long, a defender signed from Lincoln City in 2018 who earned his way into a starting berth and overcame many hurdles to win League Two and captain the club in the third tier. Alongside him is Will Ferry, the Bury born full-back has represented the Republic of Ireland at U19 and U21 level and has proven to be a valuable asset in the Robins’ defence. Leading the line alongside Alfie May is club record signing Aidan Keena who is yet to score for Cheltenham after joining in January. Keena was a much sought after man after impressing for Sligo Rovers and has represented his country from U17 to U21.
JJ Melligan joined the club from Wolves for £25,000 in 2004 and played 114 league games, scoring 15 times, in a three year spell up until 2007 before returning for 27 more in 2010. Another Irish midfielder was immensely popular and still longed for by Cheltenham fans after joining on loan from Aston Villa in 2019 with Jake Doyle-Hayes playing a key role in the club reaching the play-offs and now starring in the Scottish Premiership. Alan Bennett played 73 games for Cheltenham as part of a career of over 400 matches, with 2 caps for the Republic of Ireland.
Northern Ireland can boast of far better players when it comes to Gloucestershire’s premier club with club legends such as Michael Duff, Grant McCann, and current shot stopper Luke Southwood who holds the most third tier clean sheets in club history. Duff, and his brother Shane, are both well known and well liked at the club with Michael playing his part in promotions to the Conference, League Two and League One as well as winning the FA Trophy and then the League Two title as manager with over 300 games as a player. Shane played over 200 games and was a member of the 2006 promotion to League One.
Belfast born Grant McCann played over 200 games for the Robins from 2002 to 2007 and was the record signing at the time of his arrival. The former Hull, Peterborough and Doncaster manager won promotion to the third tier with Cheltenham and played 39 times for Northern Ireland. Trevor Carson has been capped eight times by Northern Ireland with youth caps from U17 to U21, but he was relegated from the EFL in Cheltenham’s nightmare 2014/15 campaign.
Kevin Dawson of the Republic of Ireland and Carl Winchester of Northern Ireland have both played for Cheltenham and Forest Green Rovers with Dawson currently on loan at Gary Johnson’s Torquay from parent club Gloucester City.
