A TEAM of out-of-contract Irish footballers will head to Oslo this afternoon for the annual FIFPro Winter Tournament, an event intended to showcase the skills of players who are looking for new clubs.

Former Shamrock Rovers coach Trevor Croly will oversee a PFAI-backed squad of 19 players on the trip during which the Irish will first play Sweden and then either Norway or Finland in a play-off for first or third place.

“To get contracts for players,” said Croly yesterday when asked about his hopes for the tournament which takes place on Friday.

“These are good players and I’d be surprised to be honest if any of them were left without deals by the time the league gets under way here but I think the contracts on offer here now are quite different to the ones that were going even a couple of years ago and I’d say most of these lads would take the chance to play abroad if it was offered to them.

“I think that would be great,” he said, “because very few players from here or Britain go away which is a pity because they can bring what they learn back either as players or, further down the line, as coaches which benefits everyone.”

Once again the travelling party includes a number of very prominent players with the likes of PFAI player-of-the-year nominee Daryl Kavanagh, and Sligo Rovers’ FAI Cup-winning duo Brendan Clarke and John Russell all due to fly out today.

“It’s a great opportunity to go away, play and show people in Scandinavia the talent that you have,” said Clarke.

“The reality is that these days here you’re constantly playing for a new contract. It’s rewarding at times but it’s very frustrating at times too.”

PFAI SQUAD: Brendan Clarke, Peter Cherrie; Simon Madden, Conor Powel, Derek Foran, Conor Kenna, Liam Burns, John Sullivan, Stephen McDonnell, Ryan McEvoy, James Chambers, John Russell, Darren Meenan, Sean O’Connor, Karl Moore, Daryl Kavanagh, Stephen O’Flynn, Conor Murphy, Keith Ward.