Northern Ireland national football team
Categories: European national football teams | Football in Northern Ireland
| Nickname | Green & White Army |
| Association | Irish Football Association |
| Coach | Lawrie Sanchez, 2004- |
| Most caps | Pat Jennings (119) |
| Top scorer | David Healy (19) |
| First International Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; February 18, 1882) | |
| Largest win Northern Ireland 7 - 0 Wales (Belfast, Northern Ireland; February 1, 1930) | |
| Worst defeat Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; February 18, 1882) | |
| World Cup | |
| Appearances | 3 (First in 1958) |
| Best result | Quarterfinals, 1958 |
| European Championship | |
| Appearances | none (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. Before 1921, all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the team represented the entire island. The independent Republic of Ireland has its own team.
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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.
Northern Ireland also qualified for the 1982 World Cup, reaching the second round after beating Spain, the hosts 1-0. In the 1986 World Cup, they reached the first round. Billy Bingham 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 acheived 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.
Since then Northern Ireland have been beaten at home againt Wales in an exiting match which ended 3-2. A few weeks later they were beaten 2-0 by Austria away from home and finished fourth in their group. This result is a huge achievement for such a small country with a limited amount of professional players to choose from.
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. It took until 1946 for the boundaries to be sorted out and 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' in popular usage). Even then, it took until 1950 for the rules to be changed, ensuring that only Northern Irish players could play for Northern Ireland and that only Irish Republic players could play for the Republic of Ireland.
Stadium
Northern Ireland play their home matches at Windsor Park.
World Cup record
- 1930 to 1938 - Did not enter
- 1950 - Did not qualify
- 1954 - Did not qualify
- 1958 - Quarter-finals
- 1962 to 1978 - Did not qualify
- 1982 - Round 2
- 1986 - Round 1
- 1990 to 2006 - Did not qualify
European Championship record
Notable players
Goalkeepers
Defenders
- Danny Blanchflower
- Jackie Blanchflower
- Johnny Carey
- Colin Clarke
- Mal Donaghy
- Aaron Hughes
- Alan McDonald
- Terry Neill
- Sammy Nelson
- Chris Nicholl
- Jimmy Nicholl
- Pat Rice
- Nigel Worthington
Midfielders
- George Best
- Billy Bingham
- Steve Davis
- Peter Doherty
- Keith Gillespie
- Neil Lennon
- Sammy McIlroy
- Peter McParland
- Martin O'Neill
Strikers
Managers
- Peter Doherty
- Billy Bingham (1967-1971) (1980-1993)
- Bryan Hamilton (1994-1997)
- Lawrie McMenemy (1998-1999)
- Sammy McIlroy (2000-2003)
- Lawrie Sanchez (2004-present)
External links
- Northern Ireland Supporters Fanzine
- RSSSF archive of international results 1882-
- Northern Ireland Football Supporters
- Pacemaker with photographs of Northern Ireland both recent and past
| Football in the United Kingdom | Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg |
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| National teams: Image:England crest.png England | Image:Scotland national football team logo.png Scotland | Image:Wales FA.png Wales | Image:Northern ireland national football team logo.jpg Northern Ireland | |
| National team competitions: British Home Championship | Rous Cup | |
| Club competitions: Coronation Cup | Texaco Cup | Anglo-Scottish Cup | |
| Regional football: Image:England flag large.png England | Image:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland | Image:Flag of Wales 2.svg Wales | Image:Northern Ireland flag.png Northern Ireland | |
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es:Selección nacional de fútbol de Irlanda del Norte fr:Équipe d'Irlande du Nord de football he:נבחרת צפון אירלנד בכדורגל pl:Reprezentacja Irlandii Północnej w piłce nożnej sv:Nordirlands fotbollslandslag