Jack Moylan’s scintillating start to his Ireland career makes him hard to ignore

In another world, under normal circumstances, Jack Moylan would be the story of the international window. The story of the past two windows, in fact. His Ireland career is four matches old, during which time he has scored four goals, made two assists and earned one red card. He has not arrived under the radar. He is flashing on it like a big green dot.And for more than his football too. When he scored Ireland’s third goal on Sunday night, Moylan made a point of taking off his black armband and kissing it in front of the small but vociferous band of Israel supporters in the stand in Debrecen. The gesture was hailed on social media by his Cardiff City team-mate Yousef Salech.Salech grew up in Denmark, the son of a Polish mother and a Palestinian father. He has spoken openly about Gaza, describing himself as “the only one of my family who really concentrates on my football right now. Of course, they love me as their son or brother or family member. But, obviously, it’s hard, but I think it’s hard for everyone in the world. I wish I could do more. I wish I could change more”.On Sunday night, he posted a picture on Instagram of Moylan brandishing the black armband and sent him a kiss emoji along with it. Coming from Salech, thought to be the only player in the top two divisions of English football with Palestinian roots, it felt like a significant endorsement at a time when Moylan and his Ireland team-mates were taking huge criticism from home for playing the game at all.READ MORESuch is the strange, layered feeling around pretty much everything to do with this most surreal of international weeks. From a football point of view, the 25-year-old from Bayside in Dublin has been a revelation over the past 18 months and looks like exactly the sort of combination of industry and inventiveness the Ireland team has been lacking. Had it been any other game on Sunday night, he’d have spent the past few days being hailed as someone Heimir Hallgrímsson can ignore no longer.Moylan is a bit like an underground band catching a wave of success now after years of slaving away in small venues. He had no real underage career to speak of with Ireland – he played a couple of games for Paul Osam’s under-16s in May 2017, alongside the likes of Jason Knight and Troy Parrott. But he never got a call-up at any of the other age groups and didn’t pull on an international jersey for another nine years until this summer.In between, he mostly flitted between League of Ireland clubs, starting off in the Bohemians Academy and eventually becoming a senior player when he was 19. A loan spell at Wexford followed midway through the 2021 season, where he caught the eye scoring seven goals in 14 games, even as Wexford finished bottom of the First Division.Republic of Ireland’s Jack Moylan scores the third goal of the game past Israel’s goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. Photograph: Inpho [ Ireland squad yet to decide on whether to play second Israel matchOpens in new window ]But it was the move to Shelbourne the following season that really got Moylan’s career moving. He was exceptional again in the 2023 season, this time earning himself a place on the PFAI team of the year and leading to a move to Lincoln City in the EFL League One. After a couple of strong seasons there, including a shortlisting for League One Player of the Season last year, Moylan was snapped up by Cardiff City at the start of this season.All the while, his reputation as the sort of player Ireland haven’t generally been producing was growing. His technical ability was honed through necessity – he was small and slight during his development years, meaning his footwork had to be superior for him to be effective.That was on show particularly in the goal he laid on for Adam Idah against Israel, with two touches to ride a tackle in the centre circle and a quick pass with the outside of his right boot to send the centre-forward clear. With Chiedozie Ogbene looking understandably short of match sharpness against Kosovo, Moylan’s trickery and ingenuity must look attractive to Hallgrímsson, now and into the future.Whatever it holds.