The 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.
Northern Ireland are currently seeking
Qualification to the finals of the
Euro 2008 competition. They were seeded sixth.
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 , again reaching the quarter finals 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 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.
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). Even then, it was not until
1950 for the rules to be changed, ensuring that only players from Northern Ireland could play in competitive matches for the IFA's team and that only players from the Republic could play for the FAI's team (until 1950, both teams had at least in part drawn on players selected from across the island, a practice still carried out by the FAI until the end of the century).
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% 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. 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 successful 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. 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 for political reasons giving their support to the Republic's team instead. However 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 would often recipricate, and support Northern Ireland.
- 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 (Quarter Finals)
- 1986 - Round 1
- 1990 to 2006 - ''Did not qualify''
