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As the examples of Charles and his younger brother, Pierce, show, eligibility is key for a nation with a playing pool as small as Northern Ireland.

Sometimes players are scouted, sometimes the parents or agents of players approach the Irish FA, or clubs can alert the association to eligible players.

Sometimes, however, it is a case of being in the right place at the right time.

Joe Shields, who was head of youth recruitment at Manchester City at the time, got to know the Charles family and knew the brothers would be eligible through their mother, Mary, who comes from Northern Ireland.

After watching Shea progress, Shields contacted Andy Cousins, who was also working at City with emerging talent and with the Irish FA, and recommended that it would be good for his development to get involved in the pathway with Northern Ireland.

From there, Cousins introduced O’Neill to the Charles and Price families ahead of their debuts for the Club NI side.

While O’Neill says he was “being polite and saying hello”, it also served a bigger purpose. For an up and coming player like Charles, it left a lasting impression.

“It was really cool for us, to be able to see that the senior manager had that interest in the youth team,” stated midfielder Charles, who has won 35 caps since making his NI debut in March 2023.

“It was really good to see that he does look at those younger age groups and for boys who maybe have a chance to come through.

“It really helped me get to know the boys, the coaches, the whole set-up and eventually going on my first senior camp and making my debut. It was really special and shows that the pathway was really important.”

O’Neill says it is important for him to see the next generation of talent long before they get on the fringes of the senior team, and that the work of Andy Waterworth, director of elite player development, and his staff gives him an opportunity to be in the thick of things.

“I think we’re really good at that as a small association,” he stated.

“With the time frame at that age, it can go quite quickly so there’s lads I’m seeing in our academy and I may well be the manager that gives that player his debut.”

Cousins, who stated Charles “didn’t have a worry in the world” at City and “just loved playing football”, believes that O’Neill’s work with the players at a young age allows him to trust them at senior level, which may not happen at other associations.

“It’s allowed him to believe in them and put them on the pitch young and early,” stated Cousins, who now works as head of scouting at Chelsea alongside Shields, who is co-sporting director at Stamford Bridge.

“I think he worries less about the physical elements, and if he thinks they’re going to be a really good player long term, it’s about getting them in quickly to try and be at that level.”

Two strands of approach

O’Neill says there are two threads to developing Northern Ireland’s playing pool, through domestic-based players and those recruited through eligibility.

There are the success stories of Charles and Price, who came through at Everton before establishing himself at senior level with Standard Liege and West Brom.

But O’Neill adds that if a club releases a player or if their future is uncertain, that the JD Academy – the successor to Club NI – offers stability to help them continue to develop as footballers.

O’Neill pointed to the stories of Dan Ballard and Pierce Charles, who were released by Arsenal and Manchester City respectively, but were still selected by Northern Ireland’s youth teams to continue their development.

Now, Ballard is a key player for Sunderland – alongside fellow NI defender Trai Hume – and this summer Charles re-joined Manchester City from Sheffield Wednesday before going on loan to Queen’s Park Rangers.

“Their futures were very much in the balance. Pierce was released from Man City at 16, but we don’t release him from Northern Ireland.

“It’s very important to keep the boys involved as much as we can and try and help and support them when those difficult situations arise.”

Shea Charles stated the story of his brother was “really important” and it was positive for his development to stay involved with Northern Ireland.

“When Pierce left City, he always had those [Northern Ireland underage] games to play in.

“He always had a spot in those teams and was still able to show what he can do at that high level. I feel that can be the same for so many lads.”

O’Neill highlighted the example of Ethan Galbraith, who won his first cap as an 18-year-old in 2019 when he was at Manchester United but only broke into the NI team with more regularity when he was 23 and working his way back up the football ladder with Leyton Orient.

With that time and patience, he is now an integral part of O’Neill’s squad and earned a move to Stoke City from Swansea in the summer window.

“You can see the potential in all the young players, but their careers never go in an upward straight line all the time,” O’Neill added.

“We never write young players off. We understand that at times they may have difficult times at their clubs, but that’s natural. It’s a competitive environment.”

Despite having smaller resource compared to larger nations, O’Neill believes the IFA’s scouting team “doesn’t miss very much” when it comes to eligibility.

“We’re constantly working at it and we’re having conversations with various lads who are at different stages of their careers as well.

“I wouldn’t ask a young player to do an international transfer unless I thought they genuinely had a chance to come and be a senior international. I think that’s very important.”

‘A lot of associations are jealous’

The second strand is with domestic-based players within Northern Ireland.

Of O’Neill’s current squad, players like Trai Hume, Conor Bradley, Ethan Galbraith and Ruairi McConville are all graduates from the pathway.

With the next generation, Ceadach O’Neill and Braiden Graham are examples of getting senior Northern Ireland experience while still featuring at underage level for Arsenal and Everton respectively.

Both players have been in the JD Academy and featured for Irish Premiership side Linfield before they made the move to England.

Charles says that while it is a different pathway than the English club system, the benefit of training and playing together has been beneficial for his team-mates.

“The boys talk about how it was really good for them,” he stated.

“I’m sure it was a bit different to England, but the end goal was always the same to get to the senior squad, so credit to them.”

He adds the fact that, no matter where their football journey started, that they have all come through the underage ranks together has been beneficial at senior level.

“I feel like you can see it on the pitch, with the way we play, and how we talk to each other and congratulate each other.

“When we get a bad result, you can see the way we get around each other. It’s a really great group.”

Before Club NI was formed, there was a community programme but the full JD Academy, as it is now known, allows the most promising young footballers in Northern Ireland to participate in a residential programme at Campbell College, as well as the benefits that come with playing international football at a young age such as nutrition and strength and conditioning.

For O’Neill, it has been one of the “biggest pluses” since he took over as manager for the first time in 2012, saying the academy has done a “phenomenal job”.

“I think we have something which a lot of associations are quite jealous of,” he stated.

“If you’re in a big country, the clubs develop the players because they’ve got the resources to do it, but our clubs can’t do that.

“Not every player in the academy is going to go and be a professional player or will play for Northern Ireland at senior international level, but it is giving them a really good opportunity at a critical time in their development path.”

The international benchmark

While the Championship is a strong league with consistently challenging opposition, playing international football has allowed Charles to play – and hold his own – against some of the best players of the world.

In the past three years, he has faced Rodri for Spain just before they won the European Championships, Germany’s Florain Wirtz, Sandro Tonali for Italy and France’s midfield pairing of Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot.

On each occasion Charles held his own – particularly against Italy, where he was arguably the best player on the pitch against Tonali and Nicolo Barella.

On Monday night, the 22-year-old could make his Fulham debut against Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea, a potential second Premier League appearance coming three years after his debut under Pep Guardiola at City.

It could be a full circle moment for Charles, as he will be reunited with Cousins and Shields, who played a role in the development of the likes of current Chelsea midfielders Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Romeo Lavia, who came through at City alongside Fulham’s new recruit.

“It’s much easier to benchmark players when you can say that you’ve played against players from the Premier League or certainly the top five leagues in Europe,” stated Cousins.

“Especially where the Premier League is so demanding physically, to see people performing well at that level, it’s much easier to trust that and to be able to sign a player.

“I think Shea will be absolutely no problem at all, as he’s shown in his performances against those big teams he has played against in the last two years.”

Charles agrees and says facing the world’s best players has helped him prepare for the Premier League.

“To be in that Premier League environment and hopefully to make my Fulham debut on Monday would just be incredible,” Charles stated.

“It’ll be really cool playing the best players in the world every week.

“I look forward to playing with Northern Ireland and being able to experience those games, even if it’s a friendly like the Spain or France games.

“It’s does prepare you for what the best players are like, so I’m really looking forward to it.”