Wes Hoolahan

Hi @rhtoc - some evidence that Hoolahan is still an active player would be very useful if you have it, please.

The latest I can find is from May, where it was confirmed he would not join Shelbourne and instead would likely retire.

Hi @Tom Elliott

Thanks for your response! I've seen that article too, I would say that it doesn’t provide any proof that Hoolahan has indeed retired… but on the contrary that he is interested in playing on, from listening to LOI podcasts the context behind the falling through of the Shelbourne deal was that Damian Duff was putting together a full time professional squad and that it wasn’t a fit for Wes who would only travel over at the weekends from the UK…./ not available for all games…

Tenuous I know… but if you look at articles like…. unattached league 1 players for the 2022/2023 season Hoolahan is listed and also Wikipedia states that Hoolahan is an Irish professional footballer, ie not a former player etc.

I liken it to the period between Robbie Keane leaving ATK at the end of the 17/18 season and finally announcing his official retirement on the 28th of Nov 2018.
FM 19 launched in early November 2018 and the first database off the game had Robbie as an unattached player you could sign on a free transfer, I think the same should be afforded to Wes.

Thanks Rory 

8 hours ago, rhtoc said:

Hi @Tom Elliott

Thanks for your response! I've seen that article too, I would say that it doesn’t provide any proof that Hoolahan has indeed retired… but on the contrary that he is interested in playing on, from listening to LOI podcasts the context behind the falling through of the Shelbourne deal was that Damian Duff was putting together a full time professional squad and that it wasn’t a fit for Wes who would only travel over at the weekends from the UK…./ not available for all games…

Tenuous I know… but if you look at articles like…. unattached league 1 players for the 2022/2023 season Hoolahan is listed and also Wikipedia states that Hoolahan is an Irish professional footballer, ie not a former player etc.

I liken it to the period between Robbie Keane leaving ATK at the end of the 17/18 season and finally announcing his official retirement on the 28th of Nov 2018.
FM 19 launched in early November 2018 and the first database off the game had Robbie as an unattached player you could sign on a free transfer, I think the same should be afforded to Wes.

Thanks Rory 

Hi @rhtoc - thanks very much for the detail provided. I'll pass onto @Vinnehh who will be able to advise better.

To be honest, I'm happy enough with the decision to retire Wes Hoolahan. He's 40 now and no club in either the UK or Ireland has moved for him since he left Cambridge in May.

I can't see a player that's 40 just sitting out a season and then returning as a 41 year old next season (in League of Ireland terms). It doesn't seem logical or realistic, and that's what I work off in general.

Like Hoolahan, Daryl Murphy was also retired. No official announcement was ever made that he has retired, but he hasn't been playing LOI football and seems to be gravitating towards coaching now.

Hi @Vinnehh

Thanks for the response, however it doesn’t take into account the fact that FM23 starts in Feb 22 when playing league of Ireland.

At the start of the game Wes is 39, it will be two seasons into the game before Wes is 41 at the start of the LOI 2024 season.

Even if you were to forget that LOI starts in 2022, Wes only has to sit out half a season in LOI terms to join a club at the start of the 2023 season.

The case of Daryl Murphy is very different, Murphy last played for Waterford in Oct/Nov 2021, you could argue he should still be in the game but it’s a much weaker argument. Also if you look at Wikipedia it says he's a former player etc.

Wes on the other hand was still playing for Cambridge when the game starts and there was an expectation that he would join Shelbourne during the season !

I think the argument is overwhelming, that Wes should be available when playing league of Ireland in FM23. As a league of Ireland fan the omission is disappointing, if you could fix this… it would be great, 

@Tom Elliott  @Vinnehh Well Lads, Wes Hoolahan is back, is there an update to the database due ?   https://www.thesun.ie/sport/12239957/wes-hoolahan-doncaster-city-ross-mccormack-charlie-mulgrew/