It's been an encouraging few weeks for the players in Shamrock Rovers' youth ranks.
In May, the Hoops provided five of the Republic of Ireland squad that impressed at the UEFA European Under-17 Championships.
Then on 18 June, the club's Under-15s earned a landmark 2-1 win over Dutch giants Ajax's youth academy in Amsterdam.
Former League of Ireland defender Graham Gartland coaches the side and speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, he explained how he managed to secure a fixture against one of the most iconic underage set-ups in world football and the beneficial nature of the match.
"It came about through a good friend of mine. Ajax is a really tough place to go into to get a game because they get so many requests from clubs that just think, 'We'd love to go to Ajax,'" he said.
"I wouldn't normally do this but I called in a favour from a really good friend of mine who got in touch with a prominent figure at Ajax and said, 'Listen, this is a really good team'.
"The fact that he had seen some of our players play with the Ireland Under-17s, and the Under-16s in the Shield down in Waterford, he said, 'You have a good few players in that squad, Graham.'
"It was brilliant, they were very facilitating, Ajax, and very welcoming to us as coaches and all our players."
Ultimately the game was organised and Gartland was keen for his Rovers youngsters not to be over-awed, setting up his side in the 3-5-2 against Ajax's traditional 4-3-3.
"When I was playing underage for Ireland and you were coming up against bigger nations, you always had a little bit of a fear factor of 'can we do this?' And that's alway something I felt needed to be eliminated from the psyche of young Irish players and I think it's starting to happen," he said.
Well done to our U15s, who played Ajax this morning in Amsterdam. It was an incredible experience for our boys who were exceptionally good.
— Shamrock Rovers Academy (@SRFCAcademy) June 18, 2023
Thanks to our hosts @AjaxYA for looking after us so well.
☘️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/g6vV7XyGVx
"In fairness, we took them on and went toe-to-toe with them. We didn't take a backwards step.
"That was the whole point of it, that we can go over and showcase what we can do and then it builds that relationship (with Ajax) further down the line."
But Gartland believes that the potential that exists within Ireland can only be fully harnessed with vastly more investment into the sport by the FAI and the Government.
"Talent doesn't discriminate where it's born. It's born somewhere and has to be developed, it has to be nurtured and it has to be given an opportunity," he said.
"But unless we really build up the facilities and the infrastructure and the contact hours that we can get to these kids, you're taking away their chance.
"You're taking away their chance to play at the highest level that they possibly can because we're not investing in them.
"The simple fact is the top end of our game in this country, our senior team, aren't at a level that can compete at the moment.
"So if we don't fix it at underage level and try to make it better, we're never going to get there."
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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