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Republic of Ireland national football team

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Republic of Ireland
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Boys in Green
AssociationFootball Association of Ireland
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachItaly Giovanni Trapattoni
CaptainRobbie Keane
Most capsSteve Staunton (102)
Top scorerRobbie Keane (34)
Home stadiumCroke Park
Lansdowne Road
Dalymount Park
FIFA codeIRL
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current38
Highest6 (August 1993)
Lowest57 (November 1998)
First international
Republic of Ireland Irish Free State 1 - 0  Bulgaria
(Stade Olympique, Colombes, France; May 28 1924)
Biggest win
Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland 8 - 0 Malta Malta
(Dalymount Park, Dublin, Ireland; 16 November 1983)
Biggest defeat
Brazil Brazil 7 - 0 Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland
(Uberlândia, Brazil; 27 May 1982)
World Cup
Appearances3 (first in 1990)
Best resultQuarter finals, 1990
European Championship
Appearances1 (first in 1988)
Best result5th, 1988

The Republic of Ireland national football team represents the Republic of Ireland in international football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Croke Park in Dublin.

The team made its debut at the 1924 Olympics reaching the quarter finals. Between 1924 and 1936 the team competed as the Irish Free State and from then until 1953 it was referred to by the FAI as Ireland. The current name was adopted after a FIFA ruling to disambiguate it from the Ireland team run by the IFA, which is now known as Northern Ireland.

Under the guidance of Jack Charlton and his successor Mick McCarthy the team enjoyed its most successful era, qualifying for Euro 88, reaching the quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup and making the last sixteen at both the 1994 and 2002 World Cups.

The side was the first team from outside the UK to defeat England on home soil, at a fixture played at Goodison Park, Liverpool in 1949. The team also reached the quarterfinals of the 1964 European Nations' Cup.

History

Irish Free State

Between 1882 and 1924 Ireland was represented by a single national football team organised by the Belfast - based Irish Football Association. Then in 1920 Ireland was partitioned into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. In 1922, Southern Ireland became the Irish Free State, which in turn became the Republic of Ireland. Amid these political upheavals the Football Association of Ireland emerged in Dublin in 1921 and began organising its own league and national football team.

In 1923 the FAI was recognised by FIFA as the governing body of the Irish Free State [1] and at the 1924 Olympics, the Irish Free State made their international debut. On May 28 at the Stade Olympique, they beat Bulgaria 1-0, with Paddy Duncan scoring the team's first ever goal. As a result of this they qualified for the quarter-finals. [2] [3] On June 14 1924, the Irish Free State made their home debut against the United States, who had embarked on a brief European tour after competing in the same Olympics. Ed Brookes scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 home win at Dalymount Park. [4]

The Irish Free State did not play their next game until March 21 1926. This was an away game against Italy which they lost 3-0. In subsequent years the status of the Olympic Games football competition was downgraded and as a result this game is widely regarded as the Irish Free State's first official game. On February 25 1934 the Irish Free State made their World Cup debut, drawing 4-4 with Belgium at Dalymount Park in a qualifier. Paddy Moore scored all four of the Free State’s goals and became the first player ever to score four goals in a World Cup game.

Ireland

Between 1924 and 1936 the FAI had selected players mainly from the Free State. However after 1936 the FAI began to refer to their team as Ireland and began to select players born in Northern Ireland. During this era there were, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival Associations. Both Associations, the Northern Ireland - based IFA and the Irish Free State - based FAI claimed jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and selected players from the whole island. During this era at least thirty-eight dual internationals were selected to represent both teams [5]. FIFA eventually intervened when both teams entered the 1950 FIFA World Cup, the first time they had entered the same competition. Four players - Tom Aherne, Reg Ryan, Davy Walsh and Con Martin - actually played for the two different teams in the same FIFA World Cup tournament. [6]. FIFA subsequently restricted players' eligibility based on the political border and in 1953 ruled neither team could be referred to as Ireland for competitions which both teams were eligible to enter i.e. initially the World Cup and subsequently the European Nations Cup (now the European Championships), decreeing that the FAI team be officially designated as the Republic of Ireland while the IFA team was to become Northern Ireland [7]. (For British Championship matches played against England, Scotland and Wales, the IFA was still entitled to call its team "Ireland", as they had done since staging the worlds first ever competitive international, against Scotland in Belfast in 1884, a practice which they continued up until the early 1970s, when the IFA reverted to using the name "Northern Ireland" for all its games.) The FAI continued to refer to their team as Ireland until a game against Luxembourg on March 7 1954.

Competitive history

For many years, the Republic of Ireland had seen qualification for major tournaments elude them.

A 2–0 win over England at Goodison Park on September 21, 1949, was the first time England suffered a home defeat by a team outside the Home Countries of Scotland, Wales and the Ireland team run by the Belfast based Irish FA.

The 1958 World Cup qualifiers saw the Republic of Ireland drawn with England. In their home game against England, Alf Ringstead put the hosts 1-0 up before John Atyeo equalised in the last minute to salvage a 1-1 draw for England. Under the rules of the day, a win for the Republic of Ireland would have meant a play-off with England for a place in the World Cup.

After reaching the quarter-finals of the 1964 European Nations' Cup, the Republic of Ireland were drawn to face Spain and Syria in the 1966 World Cup qualifiers. Despite Syria's withdrawal, this was still considered a qualifying group with the Irish winning 1-0 at home and losing 4-1 away. This meant a play-off in Paris, which Spain won 1-0 to take their place in the 1966 World Cup. The play-off was originally scheduled to take place at Wembley Stadium in London, home to a large Irish diaspora, but the FAI agreed with the Spanish FA to have the match moved to Paris, where a large Spanish diaspora lived.[8]

A run of poor results in the late 1960s and early 1970s followed until Johnny Giles became player-manager in the 1970s. This was followed by the debut of a young Liam Brady and results improved markedly. The side missed out on the 1978 World Cup by only 2 points, having defeated France at home.

Eoin Hand took over as the 1982 World Cup qualifiers got under way, and once more the Republic of Ireland narrowly missed out on qualification, this time on goal difference behind France who they had defeated at home once more. However, disappointing qualifying campaigns for both the 1984 European Championship and 1986 World Cup followed, and cost Hand his job.

In the late 1980s the Republic of Ireland took on Jack Charlton, a top rated English manager and World Cup winner as a player. He had recently built Middlesbrough into a side which provided many players to the Liverpool team of the time. He influenced changes in the Republic of Ireland team which went on to produce a comparatively successful spell of its history, qualifying for two World Cups and a European Championship.

The Republic of Ireland's longest competitive winning streak was achieved in 1989 during the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. Five games against Spain, Northern Ireland, Hungary and Malta twice, were all wins for the Irish. Subsequently the side made it to Italia '90, and reached the quarter finals. During the tournament the team had an audience with Pope John Paul II, and were the only team to do so.[citation needed]

Despite missing out on the 1992 European Championships, the Republic of Ireland qualified for USA '94, beating an opponent from the last World Cup, Italy, in their opening game. The side made it to the second round, eventually going down 2-0 to Netherlands. After the Republic of Ireland narrowly missed out on Euro '96, Jack Charlton was replaced by Mick McCarthy but still missed out on the next two major tournaments. He did manage to lead the side to Japan and Korea in 2002, once again going out in the second round, this time to Spain on penalties.

After a poor start to qualifying for Euro 2004, McCarthy was replaced by Brian Kerr but he also struggled to guide the side to the tournament or the following World Cup in Germany. Kerr was then replaced by Steve Staunton in early 2006. Under Staunton, results varied widely but the team still failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and Staunton was sacked in late 2007. Giovanni Trapattoni was then appointed following a spell with assistant coach Don Givens in charge. Trapattoni has been in charge for three friendly games and is unbeaten so far, with the most recent 1-1 draw coming against Norway in Scandinavia.

Stadium

Lansdowne Road

Main article: Lansdowne Road

Since the 1980s, most home matches have been played at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, the national rugby stadium owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). The ground has been closed for redevelopment since 2007 with an anticipated reopening in 2009. The first football international played there was a friendly against Italy in 1971; a 5-0 victory over San Marino in a Euro 2008 qualifying match on 15 November 2006 was the last game there before the reconstruction. The all-seater capacity of Lansdowne Road prior to the renovation was 36,000, although higher attendances, using the standing only areas, were permitted for friendly matches. The all seater new stadium will increase capacity for competitive games to 50,000.

Croke Park

Croke Park
Main article: Croke Park

With the announcement of the rebuilding of Lansdowne Road, a new venue was required to stage the Republic of Ireland's home internationals. The only stadium in Ireland deemed suitable to stage international football was the 82,500 capacity Croke Park, home of the Gaelic Athletic Association. To accommodate this, the GAA temporarily relaxed its rule governing the playing of foreign games on its property. Initially, four Euro 2008 qualifiers were played at Croke Park in 2007 resulting in two wins and two draws. The GAA has agreed to allow the FAI use until the end of 2008, although any fixtures for this period have yet to be arranged. The Hill 16 end of Croke Park is a terrace, which means like Lansdowne Road before it, the capacity of the stadium is reduced to around 73,500[citation needed] for competitive matches as temporary seating must be used.

Other venues

Prior to the 1980s, the Republic of Ireland played most home games at Dalymount Park, home of Bohemian FC, but progressively more games were played at Lansdowne following a safety review which reduced Dalymount's capacity. The last international match played there was against Morocco in 1990. The Republic of Ireland has also played home matches in Tolka Park (twice) and the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin as well at the Mardyke and Flower Lodge grounds in Cork.

Kit

Traditionally, the team plays in a home strip of green shirt, white shorts and green socks. The second strip is usually the reverse of these colours, although there have been exceptions, such as an orange shirt in the 1990s.

Currently, the kit is supplied by Umbro, and has been since 1995. Previously Adidas made the team's kit. Replica shirts carry the logo of Irish telecommunications company Eircom across the chest as per terms of a sponsorship agreement, but shirts worn by the players do not.

Squad numbers are either white with an orange trim, as is the case with the home shirts, or green with an orange trim. At the bottom of the numbering there is a logo of the FAI.

There is also a limited edition navy shirt available. The team have only ever used it once and that was a 2-2 draw with Wales on 17 November 2007.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 8

Results and fixtures

Season 2008-09

Opponents Result Venue Date Competition
Norway Norway D 1-1 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo 20 August 2008 International Friendly
Georgia (country) Georgia W 2-1 Stadion am Bruchweg, Mainz 6 September 2008 World Cup 2010 Qualifier
Montenegro Montenegro Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica 10 September 2008 World Cup 2010 Qualifier

Competitive record

See also: Republic of Ireland national football team - record in major tournaments
*Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.

Notable former players

See also: Republic of Ireland International Footballers

Template:Famous players

Backroom Staff

Current squad

The squad is for the games against Georgia and Montenegro on September 6 and September 10, 2008.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Dean Kiely October 10 1970 11 0 England West Bromwich Albion
1GK Shay Given April 20 1976 88 0 England Newcastle United
2DF Alex Bruce September 28 1984 1 0 England Ipswich Town
2DF Damien Delaney July 20 1981 2 0 England Queens Park Rangers
2DF Richard Dunne September 21 1979 45 5 England Manchester City
2DF Steve Finnan April 20 1976 52 2 Spain RCD Espanyol
2DF Stephen Kelly September 6 1983 12 0 England Birmingham City
2DF Kevin Kilbane February 1 1977 89 7 England Wigan Athletic
2DF Joey O'Brien February 17 1986 3 0 England Bolton Wanderers
2DF John O'Shea April 30 1981 49 1 England Manchester United
2DF Paul McShane January 6 1986 12 0 England Hull City
3MF Stephen Hunt August 1 1981 13 0 England Reading
3MF Aiden McGeady April 4 1986 20 0 Scotland Celtic
3MF Liam Miller February 13 1981 19 1 England Sunderland
3MF Andy Reid July 29 1982 26 4 England Sunderland
3MF Steven Reid March 10 1981 23 2 England Blackburn Rovers
3MF Glenn Whelan January 13 1984 4 1 England Stoke City
4FW Kevin Doyle September 18 1983 20 6 England Reading
4FW Robbie Keane July 8 1980 83 34 England Liverpool
4FW Andy Keogh May 16 1986 8 1 England Wolverhampton Wanderers
4FW Shane Long January 22 1987 8 3 England Reading
4FW Daryl Murphy March 15 1983 7 0 England Sunderland

Recent Call Ups

Goalkeepers
Name Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Joe Murphy August 21 1981 England Scunthorpe United 1 (0) v. Colombia, 29 May, 2008
Kieren Westwood October 23 1984 England Coventry City 0 (0) v. Colombia, 29 May, 2008
Defenders
Name Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Kevin Foley November 1 1984 England Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 (0) v. Norway, 20 August, 2008
Darren O'Dea February 4 1987 Scotland Celtic 0 (0) v. Colombia, 29 May, 2008
Midfielders
Name Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Damien Duff March 2 1979 England Newcastle United 69 (7) v. Norway, 20 August, 2008
Owen Garvan January 29 1988 England Ipswich Town 0 (0) v. Colombia, 29 May, 2008
Wes Hoolahan May 20, 1982 England Norwich City 1 (0) v. Colombia, 29 May, 2008
Stephen McPhail December 9, 1979 Wales Cardiff City 10 (1) v. Colombia, 29 May, 2008
Darren Potter December 21, 1984 England Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 (0) v. Colombia, 29 May, 2008
Martin Rowlands February 8, 1979 England Queens Park Rangers 3 (0) v. Colombia, 29 May, 2008
Strikers
Name Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Sean Scannell September 19, 1990 England Crystal Palace 0 (0) v. Colombia, 29 May, 2008

Current Formation

Under Trapattoni Ireland has begun to use a flatback 4 - 4 - 1 - 1 system with a second striker 'in the hole'. The current formation and first team squad as of the September 6th World Cup Qualifier against Georgia is:

Starting XI as of 6/9/08 

                                                (Given)
             
                       (Finnan)         (Dunne)         (O'Shea)         (Kilbane)

                       (McGeady)        (Whelan)        (S.Reid)         (Hunt)

                                                (Keane)
                                              
                                                (Doyle)

Key historical games

 England 0–2 Ireland
September 21, 1949. Goodison Park; Friendly;
England's first defeat at home to a foreign team

Republic of Ireland 1 - 2  Italy
May 11, 1971:Lansdowne Road; European Championship qualifier;
Republic of Ireland's first game at Lansdowne Road

Republic of Ireland 2 - 0  Bulgaria
October 14, 1987: Lansdowne Road; European Championship qualifier;
Enabled qualification to first ever major tournament (Euro 88) when on November 11, 1987, Bulgaria lost their last home qualifying game to Scotland 0-1.

Republic of Ireland 1 - 0  England
June 12, 1988: Neckarstadion, Stuttgart; European Championship first round
Upset victory in the Republic of Ireland's first ever match in a major tournament

Republic of Ireland 1 - 1  England
June 11, 1990: Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari; World Cup first round
The Republic of Ireland's first ever match in a World Cup Finals tournament

Republic of Ireland 0 - 0  Romania; 5 - 4 penalties
June 25, 1990:Stadio Luigi FerrarisGenoa; World Cup second round;
David O'Leary's famous penalty brought Ireland into last eight

Republic of Ireland 1 - 0  Italy
June 18, 1994: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford; World Cup first round;
Unexpected victory over the side who later lost the final on penalties, it was also the Republic of Ireland's first World Cup win

Republic of Ireland 1 - 0  England
February 15, 1995: Lansdowne Road; Friendly;
Stadium rioting by English hooligans causes match to be abandoned.

Republic of Ireland 5 - 0  San Marino
November 15, 2006: Lansdowne Road; European Championship qualifier;
The last Republic of Ireland match at Lansdowne Road before redevelopment.

Republic of Ireland 1 - 0  Wales
March 24, 2007: Croke Park; European Championship qualifier;
The Republic of Ireland play in Croke Park in a competitive fixture for the first time.

Managers

Between 1921 and 1969 a committee of selectors chose the team, on occasions a coach or team manager was appointed; Mick Meagan was the first manager to actually select the team. Managers from the periods in which the national side was known as the Irish Free State or simply Ireland are obscure and many are not current known, however it is known that Val Harris and Bill Lacey managed the side in the 1930s. Below is a list of managers from 1951 onwards, around the time when the national side became known as the Republic of Ireland;

Republic of Ireland managers

Manager Career Played Won Drawn Lost Win %
Scotland Doug Livingstone 1951 - 1953
Republic of Ireland Alex Stevenson 1953 - 1955
Republic of Ireland Johnny Carey 1955 - 1967
Republic of Ireland Noel Cantwell 1967
Republic of Ireland Charlie Hurley 1967 - 1969
Republic of Ireland Mick Meagan 1969 - 1971 12 0 3 9 0.00
Republic of Ireland Liam Tuohy 1971 - 1973 10 3 1 6 30.00
Republic of Ireland Seán Thomas (caretaker) 1973 1 0 1 0 0.00
Republic of Ireland Johnny Giles 1973 - 1980 37 14 9 14 37.84
Republic of Ireland Alan Kelly Snr (caretaker) 1980 1 1 0 0 100.00
Republic of Ireland Eoin Hand 1980 - 1985 40 11 9 20 27.50
England Jack Charlton 1986 - 1995 94 47 30 17 50.00
Republic of Ireland Mick McCarthy 1996 - 2002 68 29 19 20 42.65
Republic of Ireland Don Givens (caretaker) 2002 1 0 1 0 0
Republic of Ireland Brian Kerr 2003 - 2005 32 17 11 4 53.13
Republic of Ireland Steve Staunton 2006 - 2007 17 6 5 6 35.29
Republic of Ireland Don Givens (caretaker) 2007 - 2008 2 0 1 1 0
Italy Giovanni Trapattoni 2008 - onwards 4 2 2 0 50.00

Players with 50 or more caps

As of 6 September, 2008, the players with the most caps for the Republic of Ireland are:

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Steve Staunton 1989 - 2002 102 7
2 Niall Quinn 1986 - 2002 91 21
3 Kevin Kilbane 1997 - present 89 7
4 Tony Cascarino 1986 - 2000 88 19
Shay Given 1996 - present 88 0
6 Paul McGrath 1985 - 1997 83 8
Robbie Keane 1998 - present 83 34
8 Packie Bonner 1981 - 1996 80 0
9 Ray Houghton 1986 - 1998 73 6
10 Kenny Cunningham 1996 - 2005 72 0
Liam Brady 1975 - 1990 72 9
12 Kevin Moran 1980 - 1994 71 6
Frank Stapleton 1977 - 1990 71 20
14 Andy Townsend 1989 – 1997 70 7
15 John Aldridge 1986 - 1997 69 19
16 Damien Duff 1998 - present 68 7
David O'Leary 1977 - 1993 68 1
18 Roy Keane 1991 - 2005 67 9
19 Ian Harte 1996 - present 64 11
20 Gary Breen 1996 - 2006 63 6
21 John Giles 1960 - 1979 59 5
22 Mick McCarthy 1984 - 1992 57 2
23 Don Givens 1969 - 1982 56 19
Denis Irwin 1991 - 2000 56 4
25 Chris Hughton 1980 - 1992 53 1
Ronnie Whelan 1981 - 1995 53 3
27 Gary Kelly 1994 - 2002 52 2
Mick Martin 1972 - 1983 52 4
Jason McAteer 1994 - 2004 52 3
Steve Finnan 2000 - present 52 2
31 Paddy Mulligan 1969 - 1980 50 1

Record goal scorers

As of 29 May 2008; players in bold still active
Rank Name Goals (Caps)
1 Robbie Keane 34 (82)
2 Niall Quinn 21 (91)
3 Frank Stapleton 20 (71)
4 Don Givens 19 (56)
Tony Cascarino 19 (88)
John Aldridge 19 (69)
7 Noel Cantwell 14 (36)
8 Gerry Daly 13 (48)
Jimmy Dunne 13 (15)
10 Ian Harte 11 (64)

See here for top goal scorers per country.

See also

References

  1. ^ Byrne, Peter (1996). Football Asssociation of Ireland: 75 years. Dublin: Sportsworld. p. 22. ISBN 1-900110-06-7.
  2. ^ 1924 Olympic Games at Rsssf
  3. ^ History of Irish Football
  4. ^ United States results at Rsssf
  5. ^ List of Dual Internationalists
  6. ^ Ryan, op. cit. pg 59.
  7. ^ Byrne, op. cit., pg 68
  8. ^ Michael Nugent (2007-09-20). "FAI-Total Official Looniness Abroad". Retrieved 2007-12-21.

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