When it comes to the most well supported Premier League teams in Ireland this season, you can expect all the usual suspects to be at the top of the list.
Manchester United and Liverpool are by far the two most well supported English clubs in Ireland, with a huge number of Irish football fans following the league two traditional powerhouse clubs. After that, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Manchester City (consisting of quite a few younger people) would be next in line.
Ipswich Town are not a club you would have expected to be near the top of that list, but the newly promoted side have quickly vaulted themselves to the forefront the the minds of Irish football fans in recent weeks.
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Ipswich Town Are Now The Team To Watch For Irish Football Fans
Ipswich Town were always going to be an intriguing side to watch in this season's Premier League, with Kieran McKenna's men having earned back-to-back promotions over the last couple of years. Of course, the fact that McKenna himself hails from Fermanagh would also pique the attentions of people in this part of the world.
Jack Taylor and Marcus Harness were both part of their squad last season. That pair have both declared for Ireland, although neither have been capped at senior level just yet.
However, some more well established Ireland internationals have joined the Tractor Boys since the turn of August.
Sammie Szmodics was the first of them, signing from Blackburn Rovers for a fee of around £9million. He would make his debut against Liverpool on the opening weekend of the season, going on to score against Manchester City during his first start the following week.
First premier league goal. Thanks for the amazing support throughout. Lessons to be learnt and positives to build on @IpswichTown 💙 pic.twitter.com/RGtZtCfA11
— Sam Szmodics (@SamSzmodics) August 25, 2024
Szmodics has arguably been the most in-form player in Irish football over the last 12 months, scoring 33 goals last season. He has also massively impressed at international level since making his debut back in March and looks set to be a key player under Heimir Hallgrimsson. It will be interesting to see how he deals with the step up to the Premier League, although the early signs are promising.
Ipswich Town would also win the race to bring in Ireland defender Dara O'Shea in recent days, beating off competition from the likes of Brentford and Wolves to sign him from Burnley. They also paid £15million for the privilege, with Burnley over doubling their money on the Dubliner after just one season.
McKenna's side completed their march on the Ireland squad this morning, signing Chiedozie Ogbene for a fee of £8million. Ogbene was massively impressive during his debut Premier League campaign at Luton Town and will hope for similar results this time around.
Ireland’s Chiedozie Ogbene has secured a Premier League move, signing for newly-promoted Ipswich from Luton ☘️
Ogbene joins fellow Irish internationals Dara O’Shea and Sammie Szmodics in signing for Ipswich this window, as Kieran McKenna bolsters his squad for the new season pic.twitter.com/EemfUjI3LA— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) August 28, 2024
Add to that the Irish-eligible striker Liam Delap, and suddenly you can understand why Ireland fans will be keeping a close eye on Ipswich Town this season.
This is the most Irish-heavy squad we have seen in the Premier League in well over a decade, going all the way back to Roy Keane's spell in charge of Sunderland.
If all five of those players can feature regularly, it would only be a good thing for Irish football moving forward.
It will be worth keeping a close eye on the happenings at Portman Road over the next nine months.
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