As BBM's men prepare to take on Cork City at Turners Cross this evening, we take a look at some former Bluebirds who spent time during their careers playing in the League of Ireland.
GRAHAM KAVANAGH
Born in Dublin, future City captain Kavanagh began his playing career with local club Home Farm. Renowned for their player development, Home Farm's youth side, which Kavanagh played in, set a world record for the longest unbeaten run - 203 games (197 wins), stretching over five years.
Graham later said: "They had a big history of players there going on to play in England. At the time, the biggest player was probably Ronnie Whelan, and he used to come back to Home Farm so we would see him occasionally.
“It was good that we could see somebody who was local and had made it, so that we could try to follow in his footsteps. The team I was in ended up going on an unbeaten run from something like U8 up to U18 in domestic competitions, so a lot of my teammates ended up going to different big clubs.
“I personally got spotted in a tournament in Northern Ireland called the Milk Cup. It’s a great tournament with teams coming from all over the world."
After spells with Middlesbrough and Stoke City, Kav arrived at Ninian Park in July 2001 and was an instant hit. He scored several famous goals, including a stunning free-kick to level our historic FA Cup tie against Leeds United, and also captained the Bluebirds to Play-Off promotion in 2003.
STEPHEN MCPHAIL
Similarly to Kavanagh, Stephen McPhail was raised in Dublin and also began his career with Home Farm. Also like Kav, the young midfielder moved to English football at a young age, joining Leeds United in 1995.
Having featured for Leeds, Millwall (loan), Nottingham Forest (loan) and Barnsley, McPhail joined Dave Jones' City side in June 2006, becoming an integral member of the squad. He was handed the captain's armband whilst Darren Purse and Riccy Scimeca were injured, and led the Bluebirds to the FA Cup Final in 2008.
After making 219 Cardiff City appearances, Macca left the Club in 2013, reuniting with Jones for a season at Sheffield Wednesday, before returning to his home country to play for Shamrock Rovers. He featured in 51 Premier Division games across three seasons, scoring twice, before retiring in 2016.
JASON BYRNE
Whereas Kavanagh and McPhail spent the majority of their playing careers outside of Ireland, striker Jason Byrne was the opposite. The second highest goal scorer in the history of the League of Ireland, Byrne starting playing for Bray Wanderers in 1998, before a successful three-year spell at Shelbourne.
At Shelbourne, the forward won the Premier Division title three times (2003, 2004 and 2006), attracting attention from the Football League. He joined City in January 2007, and scored a late winner on his debut away at Wolverhampton Wanderers - a game which Bluebirds fans were infamously unable to attend.
Following a bright start in South Wales alongside Michael Chopra, the arrival of Robbie Fowler, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Steve MacLean at the start of 2007/08 saw Byrne's opportunties limited. He returned to Ireland with Bohemians in January 2008, and would also feature for Dundalk, Bray Wanderers and Bohemians again in the Premier Division. He retired in 2017 with 222 League of Ireland goals, 13 goals shy of the overall record.
DAVID FORDE
Galway-born goalkeeper David Forde came through the ranks with his hometown club, Galway United, and made his League of Ireland debut in 1999.
After impressing between the sticks, he made the first of two moves to South Wales - joining Barry Town in 2001. He continued making eye-catching performance, earning a professional contract at West Ham United, but did not feature for the First Team at Upton Park. A return to Ireland soon followed, first with Galway and then Derry City. At Derry, Forde was a mainstay as the Candystripes recorded back-to-back second place finishes in the Premier Division.
The shot stopper returned to South Wales as a Bluebird in December 2006, competing with Neil Alexander for the starting gloves and making seven appearances in the back half of the 2006/07 Championship season. However, much like his compatriot Byrne, the arrivals of Michael Oakes, Ross Turnbull, Kasper Schmeichel and Peter Enckelman during the first half of 2007/08 made it tough for Forde to compete.
He joined Millwall in August 2008 and would become a mainstay at The Den, staying for eight seasons and making over 300 appearances. He helped the Lions win the League One Play-Offs in 2010, a game in which future City bosses Neil Harris and Steve Morison started together up front. Forde retired in 2019 following spells with Portsmouth and Cambridge United.
GREG CUNNINGHAM
Left-back Cunningham was also born in Galway, but finished his career with his hometown club rather than starting it. Greg came through the youth system at Mervue United, and soon moved to England to join Manchester City's Academy.
He made his senior City debut in 2010, and soon would depart for pastures new in the EFL. Loan spells at Leicester City and Nottingham Forest were followed by permanent moves to Bristol City and Preston North End. It was at Deepdale where Greg would settle into life as a Championship player, spending three years as regular for the Lilywhites.
Premier League Cardiff City came calling for Cunningham's services in the summer of 2018, as the left back competed with Joe Bennett during our top flight campaign. With Benno retaining his starting berth for the majority of 2018/19, Greg joined Blackburn Rovers on loan, and later returned to Preston, where he would spend another three-and-a-half seasons as a Championship stalwart.
The four-time Irish international returned home in 2024, joining Galway United for the final two years of his career. Greg made 32 Premier Division appearances before retiring, and recently took his first steps into management with Salthill Devon, also based in Galway. Good luck, Greg!
AARON BOLGER
Aaron Bolger never made a senior appearance for the Bluebirds, but has enjoyed a steady League of Ireland career over the past six years. The young midfielder broke through at Shamrock Rovers, replacing McPhail off the bench to make his debut in 2016.
He joined up with Neil Warnock's side in 2019 after an impressive early stint with Rovers, training with the First Team and playing as part of City's U23 side. He also spent time back in Ireland on loan with his former club and Longford Town, but departed the Welsh capital in 2021 without a First Team debut.
Bolger then joined tonight's opponents, Cork City, and spent two seasons at Turners Cross. He helped Cork to the 2022 First Division title, and later played for St. Patrick's Athletic and Galway United (featurning alongside former City squadmate Cunningham). Now aged 26, Aaron has played 22 Premier Division games for Galway this term.
BRIAN MURPHY
A namesake of our current Head Coach, Murph was born in Waterford and spent time in the English system before returning to his native Ireland. It was with Bohemians where the shot stopper made a name for himself in Irish football, keeping 19 clean sheets in 29 games during his first season at the club.
On 11 January 2008, he was voted "Goalkeeper of the Year" for the 2007 season by the Soccer Writers Association of Ireland, an honour he repeated in 2008. He also became the first goalkeeper to be awarded League of Ireland Player of the Year, for the 2008 season.
Ipswich Town snapped up Murphy in 2010, beginning a ten-year Football League career. He spent just one season at Portman Road before departing for Premier League-bound Queens Park Rangers in 2011, working with Warnock for the first time. A campaign at Portsmouth followed in 2015/16, before Murphy became a Bluebird - initially as back-up to Ben Amos. With Warnock soon arriving at CCS, Murphy played a handful of matches in 2016/17 before the arrival of Allan McGregor, and similarly deputised for Neil Etheridge during our promotion-winning campaign of 2017/18.
Leaving City in 2020, Murphy ended his career back in Ireland with hometown club Waterford. After 66 games across three seasons, Brian retired in 2023 and became Waterford's goalkeeping coach shortly afterwards.