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Northern Ireland national football team

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The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international football. In such events, the constituent nations of the UK compete separately. The independent Republic of Ireland has its own team. Before 1921, all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and was represented by a single Ireland team, of which Northern Ireland is the direct successor. In October 2006, for the first time since they were introduced, Northern Ireland were ranked higher than the Republic of Ireland in the FIFA World Rankings[1].

Northern Ireland
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Green & White Army,
Norn Iron,
Our wee country
AssociationIrish Football Association
Head coachNorthern Ireland Lawrie Sanchez, 2004-
Most capsPat Jennings (119)
Top scorerDavid Healy (24)
Home stadiumWindsor Park
FIFA codeNIR
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current45
Highest33 (May 1994)
Lowest124 (March 2004)
First international
Template:Country data Ireland-1753 Ireland 0 - 13 England England
(Belfast, Ireland; 18 February, 1882)
Biggest win
Template:Country data Ireland-1753 Ireland (IFA) 7 - 0 Wales Wales
(Belfast, Northern Ireland; 1 February, 1930)
Biggest defeat
Template:Country data Ireland-1753 Ireland 0 - 13 England England
(Belfast, Ireland; 18 February, 1882)
World Cup
Appearances3 (first in 1958)
Best resultQuarterfinals, 1958
European Championship
Appearancesnone (first in -)
Best result-

Current campaign

See the main article 2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying Group F

Northern Ireland are currently seeking qualification to the finals of the Euro 2008 competition. They were seeded in the sixth pot and drawn against Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Latvia, Iceland and Liechtenstein. In an unprecedented move, the Irish Football Association offered the national team and all its staff a £1 million pound bonus if the team qualified for Euro 2008. However, their chances of qualifying got off to a poor start as a poor defensive display saw them go down 3-0 at home to Iceland. In their second game however, they came back to defeat Spain 3-2 with a David Healy hat trick, the first in Belfast for 35 years since George Best, and their first win over Spain since the 1982 World Cup. Northern Ireland then recorded a creditable 0-0 draw against Denmark in Copenhagen and a 1-0 win against Latvia at Windsor Park.

Past performances

Northern Ireland's best World Cup performance was in their first appearance in the competition, the 1958 World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals after beating Czechoslovakia 2-1 in the play-off. They were knocked out by France, losing 4-0. In the 1958 competition Northern Ireland became the smallest country to have qualified for the World Cup, a record that stood until Trinidad & Tobago qualified for the 2006 World Cup. Northern Ireland remains, however, the smallest country to have qualified for more than one World Cup, and the smallest country to have reached the World Cup quarter-finals.

Northern Ireland also qualified for the 1982 World Cup, again reaching the quarter-finals after topping the first stage group, having beaten Spain, the hosts 1-0, a match that has gone down in history as one of Northern Ireland's finest ever displays, and is still sung about by fans today. In 1982, Norman Whiteside became the youngest ever player in the World Cup finals, a record that still stands today. In the 1986 World Cup, they reached the first round. Billy Bingham, a member of the 1958 squad, was manager for both of these tournaments. They have not qualified for any other World Cups. The side have yet to participate in their first European Championship finals.

Northern Ireland were the last winners of the now defunct British Home Championship held in 1984. After qualifying for the 1986 World Cup, Northern Ireland entered a gradual decline. However, the 1994 World Cup and Euro '96 qualifiers saw respectable performances- in the latter, they finished level on points with the Republic of Ireland, but a goal difference of 5 to the Republic of Ireland's 6 cost them 2nd place. Subsequent performances were less notable, although fortunes have improved since.

Current coach Lawrie Sanchez was appointed in January 2004 after a run of 10 games without a goal. The previous manager was Sammy McIlroy. That run ended after his first game in charge, a 1-4 defeat to Norway in a friendly in February 2004. The run of 16 games without a win ended after his second game, a 1-0 victory in a friendly over Estonia, with a largely experimental side, in March 2004.

 
Mural in east Belfast commemorating Northern Ireland beating England at home in 2005.

On 7 September 2005 Northern Ireland achieved arguably their best victory in recent times by beating England 1-0 in a 2006 World Cup Qualifier at Windsor Park. David Healy scored the winner in the 73rd minute. Almost a year to the day later, on 6 September 2006, Northern Ireland defeated Spain 3-2 in a qualifier for Euro 2008, with Healy scoring a hat-trick.

Here is a summary of all Northern Ireland's competitive results (friendly matches not counted):

All competitive matches before and after partition ‡
P W D L F A Gd
448 108 96 244 477 936 -459
All matches including friendlies ‡
P W D L F A Gd
521 128 117 276 550 1044 -494
All matches as Northern Ireland ‡[citation needed]
P W D L F A Gd
424 115 102 208 447 697 -250

‡ Data correct as of N.Ireland v Latvia 11th October 2006 [citation needed]


The team have also won the Home Championship 8 times, including 5 shared.

History

The Northern Ireland team is the successor to the all-Ireland national football team that existed before the formation of the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) in 1922. The team selected by the Irish Football Association (based in Belfast, Northern Ireland) continued to claim to represent (and pick players from) all of Ireland even after the partition. A rival Ireland team was set up by the Football Association of Ireland (based in Dublin, Irish Free State) in 1926 which also claimed to represent all of Ireland; however this team was not recognised by the Home Nations and instead looked to FIFA teams from mainland Europe for competition.

It took until 1950 for the boundaries to be sorted out, and it was not until 1954 that the IFA's team became known as 'Northern Ireland' (though it took many more years for the name to fall into popular usage), while the FAI's team became known as the 'Republic of Ireland' (often called simply 'Ireland' or 'the Republic' in popular usage).

Stadium

 
Windsor Park - a view from the Kop Stand, showing the two-tiered North Stand and the low Railway stand behind the opposite goal

Northern Ireland play their home matches at Windsor Park, home of Linfield F.C., which they have use of on a one hundred year lease, part of which gives Linfield 15%[citation needed] of the gate receipts for all home internationals.

There is currently speculation of building a national stadium for Northern Ireland at the disused Maze prison outside Lisburn for the use of Rugby, Gaelic games and football[2]. This unpopular plan has been given an "in principle" go-ahead by the Irish Football Association. However, it is opposed by fans, over 95% of whom in a match day poll in 2005 preferred to stay at a smaller new or redeveloped ground in the city of Belfast. The Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters' Clubs organised a protest against the move to the Maze at the game against Estonia in March 2006.

Since the defeat of England in 2005 there has been an increase of national pride in the team, with demand for tickets outstripping supply.[3] [4] Tongue-in-cheek songs such as "We're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland" (sung to the tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic) and 'It's Just Like Watching Brazil' are popular at home matches.

Unionists are more likely than nationalists to support the Northern Ireland team, with the latter often giving their support to the Republic's team instead. However, recent moves by supporters and the IFA have shown this to be changing. Sectarianism is greatly frowned upon at N Ireland matches and is predominantly a thing of the past. It is not unknown for Northern Ireland supporters to adopt the Republic of Ireland as their second team when they are not in direct competition with Northern Ireland, and supporters of the Republic often reciprocate, and support Northern Ireland.

The noise of the crowd is known as "the twelfth man" and is acknowledged by manager Lawrie Sanchez to have spurred the team on to the famous recent victories against England and Spain. Away travel is also becoming increasingly popular. Nearly 3,000 fans travelled to Denmark in October 2006 in what was Northern Ireland's largest[citation needed] travelling support outside the United Kingdom. Earlier in 2006, Northern Ireland's supporters had been awarded the Brussels International Supporters Award [5], for their efforts to stamp out sectarianism, charity work and general good humour and behaviour. Representatives of the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters' Clubs received the award from UEFA and EU representatives prior to the Northern Ireland versus Spain game at Windsor Park in September 2006.

Current players

The following players have all been called up to the Northern Ireland squad within the last 18 months.

Goalkeepers
Name Age Club Caps (goals)
Maik Taylor 35   Birmingham City 57 (0)
Roy Carroll 29   West Ham United 19 (0)
Michael Ingham 26   Wrexham 2 (0)
Alan Blayney 25   Doncaster Rovers 1 (0)
Defenders
Name Age Club Caps (goals)
Aaron Hughes (c) 26   Aston Villa 51 (0)
Colin Murdock 31   Rotherham United 33 (1)
Stephen Craigan 30   Motherwell 26 (0)
Chris Baird 24   Southampton 25 (0)
Tony Capaldi 25   Plymouth Argyle 20 (0)
George McCartney 25   West Ham United 20 (1)
Michael Duff 27   Burnley 15 (0)
Gareth McAuley 26   Leicester City 5 (0)
Mark Clyde 23   Wolves 3 (0)
Jonny Evans 18   Manchester United
(on loan to   Royal Antwerp)		 3 (0)
Jeff Hughes 21   Lincoln City 1 (0)
Brian McLean 21   Motherwell 1 (0)
Sean Webb 21   Ross County 1 (0)
Midfielders
Name Age Club Caps (goals)
Keith Gillespie 31   Sheffield United 73 (2)
Damien Johnson 27   Birmingham City 44 (0)
Stuart Elliott 28   Hull City 33 (4)
Phil Mulryne 28   Cardiff City 27 (3)
Jeff Whitley 27   Cardiff City 20 (3)
Steven Davis 21   Aston Villa 17 (1)
Grant McCann 26   Cheltenham Town 12 (0)
Steve Robinson 31   Luton Town 8 (0)
Sammy Clingan 22   Nottingham Forest 7 (0)
Ivan Sproule 25   Hibernian 6 (1)
Chris Brunt 21   Sheffield Wednesday 5 (0)
Strikers
Name Age Club Caps (goals)
David Healy 27   Leeds United 54 (24)
James Quinn 31   Northampton Town 50 (4)
Steve Jones 29   Burnley 23 (1)
Andy Smith 26   Preston North End 18 (0)
Warren Feeney 25   Luton Town 16 (2)
Andy Kirk 27   Northampton Town 8 (0)
Kyle Lafferty 19   Burnley 7 (1)
Peter Thompson 22   Linfield 4 (0)
Dean Shiels 21   Hibernian 2 (0)

Coaching Staff

World Cup Finals record

European Championship Finals record

Notable players

File:Northern Ireland wall of heros.JPG
The wall of heroes outside Windsor Park

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Strikers

Managers

Player Records

Northern Ireland players with more than 50 caps

Main article: List of Northern Ireland international footballers

As of 11 October, 2006, the players with the most caps for Northern Ireland are:

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Pat Jennings 1964 - 1986 119 0
2 Mal Donaghy 1980 - 1994 91 0
3 Sammy McIlroy 1972 - 1987 88 5
4= Keith Gillespie 1995 - present 73 2
4= Jimmy Nicholl 1976 - 1986 73 1
6 Michael Hughes 1992 - 2005 71 5
7 David McCreery 1976 - 1990 67 0
8 Nigel Worthington 1984 - 1997 66 0
9 Martin O'Neill 1972 - 1985 64 8
10 Gerry Armstrong 1977 - 1986 63 12
11= Iain Dowie 1990 - 2000 59 12
11= Terry Neill 1961 - 1973 59 2
13 Maik Taylor 1999 - present 57 0
14= Billy Bingham 1951 - 1964 56 10
14= Danny Blanchflower 1950 - 1962 56 2
16 Jimmy McIlroy 1952 - 1966 55 10
17 David Healy 2000 - present 54 24
18= Allan Hunter 1970 - 1980 53 1
18= John McClelland 1980 - 1990 53 1
20= Alan McDonald 1986 - 1996 52 3
20= Jim Magilton 1991 - 2002 52 5
22= Aaron Hughes 1998 - present 51 0
22= Chris Nicholl 1975 - 1984 51 3
22= Gerry Taggart 1990 - 2003 51 7
25= Bryan Hamilton 1969 - 1980 50 4
25= James Quinn 1996 - present 50 4

Top Northern Ireland goalscorers

# Player Career Goals (Caps) Goals per game
1 David Healy 2000 - present 24 (54) 0.44
2= Billie Gillespie 1913 - 1932 13 (25) 0.52
2= Colin Clarke 1986 - 1993 13 (38) 0.34
4= Joe Bambrick 1928 - 1940 12 (11) 1.09
4= Gerry Armstrong 1977 - 1986 12 (63) 0.19
4= Jimmy Quinn 1985 - 1996 12 (46) 0.26
4= Iain Dowie 1990 - 2000 12 (59) 0.20
8= Billy Bingham 1951 - 1964 10 (56) 0.18
8= Jimmy McIlroy 1952 - 1966 10 (55) 0.18
8= Peter McParland 1954 - 1962 10 (34) 0.29
8= Johnny Crossan 1960 - 1968 10 (24) 0.42

References

  1. ^ BBC article on Northern Ireland's Ranking
  2. ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199697/ldhansrd/pdvn/lds06/text/60131w04.htm Lord's Hansard on the question of building an NI national stadium
  3. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4880528.stm BBC news story on NI ticket sales
  4. ^ http://www.irishfa.com/international-matches/question-time IFA FAQ encompassing ticket sales
  5. ^ http://www.uefa.com/uefa/Keytopics/kind=4/newsId=448323.html UEFA news story on 2006 Brussels International Supporters Award

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