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Northern Ireland national football team

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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 (20)
FIFA codeNIR
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current72
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
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-

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 the team represented the entire island.

Current campaign

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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

Records
P W D L F A Gd
445 106 95 244 473 934 -461
  • Ireland as a football team was uncompetitive for years, having the opportunity only to play the other British teams, leading to a lot of defeats.

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 1921. 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 overseas for competition.

It took until 1946 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[1]. 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 [2] [3]., much to the chagrin of a lot of regular fans, who believe that many recent fans go more for the image than the football. Tongue-in-cheek songs such as "We're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland" (sung, ironically, 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.

Supporters

The Northern Ireland supporters are amongst the most loyal in the world, largely due to the fact that Northern Ireland does not regularly win, and many fans are satisfied as long as the team gives 100%. At all matches, home and away, it is rare to find Northern Ireland fans not singing for their team. Indeed, the contribution of Northern Ireland fans is recognized as such that they were voted the best fans in the world for 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 34 England Birmingham City 54 (0)
Roy Carroll 28 England West Ham United 19 (0)
Michael Ingham 26 England Wrexham 2 (0)
Alan Blayney 24 England Doncaster Rovers 1 (0)
Defenders
Name Age Club Caps (goals)
Aaron Hughes 26 England Aston Villa 49 (0)
Mark Williams 35 no club 36 (1)
Colin Murdock 30 England Rotherham United 33 (1)
Stephen Craigan 29 Scotland Motherwell 24 (0)
Chris Baird 24 England Southampton 23 (0)
George McCartney 25 England West Ham United 20 (1)
Tony Capaldi 24 England Plymouth Argyle 20 (0)
Michael Duff 28 England Burnley 14 (0)
Gareth McAuley 26 England Leicester City 5 (0)
Mark Clyde 23 England Wolves 3 (0)
Jonny Evans 18 England Manchester United 1 (0)
Jeff Hughes 21 England Lincoln City 1 (0)
Sean Webb 26 Scotland Ross County 1 (0)
Midfielders
Name Age Club Caps (goals)
Keith Gillespie 31 England Sheffield United 70 (2)
Damien Johnson 27 England Birmingham City 42 (0)
Stuart Elliott 28 England Hull City 33 (4)
Phil Mulryne 28 England Cardiff City 27 (3)
Jeff Whitley 27 England Cardiff City 20 (3)
Steven Davis 21 England Aston Villa 15 (1)
Grant McCann 26 England Cheltenham Town 12 (0)
Tommy Doherty 26 England Queen's Park Rangers 9 (0)
Chris Brunt 21 England Sheffield Wednesday 5 (0)
Sammy Clingan 22 England Nottingham Forest 5 (0)
Strikers
Name Age Club Caps (goals)
David Healy 27 England Leeds United 52 (20)
James Quinn 31 England Northampton Town 46 (4)
Steve Jones 29 England Burnley 22 (1)
Andy Smith 25 England Preston North End 18 (0)
Warren Feeney 25 England Luton Town 13 (2)
Andy Kirk 26 England Northampton Town 8 (0)
Ivan Sproule 25 Scotland Hibernian 6 (1)
Kyle Lafferty 19 England Burnley 5 (1)
Peter Thompson 22 Northern Ireland Linfield 4 (0)
Dean Shiels 21 Scotland 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 2 September, 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= Michael Hughes 1992 - 2005 73 5
4= Jimmy Nicholl 1976 - 1986 73 1
6 Keith Gillespie 1995 - present 70 2
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= Billy Bingham 1951 - 1964 56 10
13= Danny Blanchflower 1950 - 1962 56 2
15 Jimmy McIlroy 1952 - 1966 55 10
16 Maik Taylor 1999 - present 54 0
17= Allan Hunter 1970 - 1980 53 1
17= John McClelland 1980 - 1990 53 1
19= David Healy 2000 - present 52 20
19= Alan McDonald 1986 - 1996 52 3
19= Jim Magilton 1991 - 2002 52 5
22= Chris Nicholl 1975 - 1984 51 3
22= Gerry Taggart 1990 - 2003 51 7
24 Bryan Hamilton 1969 - 1980 50 4

Top Northern Ireland goalscorers

# Player Career Goals (Caps) Goals per game
1 David Healy 2000 - present 20 (52) 0.38
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. ^ 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
  2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4880528.stm BBC news story on NI ticket sales
  3. ^ http://www.irishfa.com/international-matches/question-time IFA FAQ encompassing ticket sales


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