Alex Murphy included in Ireland U21 squad for Euro Qualifiers

Ireland Under-21s Head Coach Jim Crawford has named a 24-man squad for the upcoming UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifiers against Türkiye and Latvia.

Included in the squad is former Galway United and current Newcastle United defender ALEX MURPHY, who made his Ireland U21 debut in June in a 3-2 win away to Croatia. There are first time call-ups for Crystal Palace and former Cork City forward Franco Umeh as well as Dundee United and former Drogheda United defender Emmanuel Adegboyega. There’s a return to the squad for Killian Phillips fresh from his loan move to Scottish Premiership side St. Mirren and James Furlong who is on-loan at Wimbledon but Bosun Lawal and Tony Springett, who featured in the last camp, miss out.

Ireland will base themselves in Dublin before flying out to Istanbul for the qualifier against Türkiye on Friday, September 6 (Live on RTÉ, kick-off 5.45pm Irish time). The young Boys in Green return to Ireland before facing Latvia in Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday, September 10 – kick-off 5pm. Tickets for the game are on sale now priced €10 for adults, €5 for under-16s with a family ticket €20 (two adults, two children) available here

Jim Crawford has also reinforced his backroom team with Stephen Rice joining the Under-21s coaching staff as Assistant Coach having worked with the Men’s Senior Team as Chief Scout and opposition analyst for the last three years. Rene Gilmartin, who is the Head of Goalkeeping at Ipswich Town and served as goalkeeping coach with the Senior Team in the last two international windows, returns to the Under-21s in the same role, having been involved in the position since 2019.

Ireland Under-21s Squad 

Goalkeepers: Tiernan Brooks (Gateshead), Killian Cahill (Brighton & Hove Albion), Josh Keeley (Tottenham Hotspur)

Defenders: James Abankwah (Udinese), Emmanuel Adegboyega (Dundee United, on loan from Norwich City),  Sam Curtis (Peterborough United, on loan from Sheffield United), James Furlong (Wimbledon, on loan from Hull City), Anselmo Garcia-MacNulty (PEC Zwolle), Alex Murphy (Newcastle United), Connor O’Riordan (Cambridge United, on loan from Blackburn Rovers), Sean Roughan (Lincoln City)

Midfielders: Baba Adeeko (Wigan Athletic), Matt Healy (Royal Francs Borains), Joe Hodge (Huddersfield Town, on loan from Wolves), Andrew Moran (Stoke City, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), Killian Phillips (St. Mirren, on loan from Crystal Palace), Rocco Vata (Watford)

Forwards: Sinclair Armstrong (Bristol City), Aidomo Emakhu (Millwall), Johnny Kenny (Shamrock Rovers, on loan from Celtic), Mark O’Mahony (Portsmouth, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), Ollie O’Neill (Leyton Orient), Armstrong Oko-Flex (FC Zürich), Franco Umeh (Crystal Palace)

 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifier (Kick-Off time is Irish time) 

Friday, September 6 | Türkiye U21 v Ireland U21, Esenir Stadium, Istanbul, Kick-Off 5.45pm

Tuesday, September 10 | Ireland U21 v Latvia U21, Tallaght Stadium, Dublin, Kick-Off 5pm