Republic of Ireland national football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Republic of Ireland

Nickname

The Boys in Green

Association

Football Association of Ireland

Confederation

UEFA (Europe)

Head coach

Steve Staunton (2006-)
mentored by

Sir Bobby Robson (2006-)

Asst coach

Kevin MacDonald (2006-)

Captain

Robbie Keane

Most caps

Steve Staunton (102)

Top scorer

Robbie Keane (29)

Home stadium

Croke Park (while Lansdowne Road
is being redeveloped)

FIFA code

IRL

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

6 (August 1993)

Lowest FIFA ranking

57 (November 1998)

Elo ranking

Highest Elo ranking

8 (April 2002, August 2002)

Lowest Elo ranking

67 (May 1972)





First kit





Second kit

First international

Italy 3 - 0 Ireland (FAI)

(Turin, Italy; 21 March 1926)

Biggest win

Republic of Ireland 8 - 0 Malta

(Dublin, Republic of Ireland; 16 November 1983)

Biggest defeat

Brazil 7 - 0 Republic of Ireland

(Uberlândia, Brazil; 27 May 1982)

World Cup

Appearances

3 (First in 1990)

Best result

Quarterfinals, 1990

European Championship

Appearances

1 (First in 1988)

Best result

Round 1, 1988

The Republic of Ireland national football team is the football team of the Republic of Ireland and is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The FAI were founded on June 1, 1921 and were permitted to join FIFA in 1923 as the Football Association of the Irish Free State (FAIFS). Prior to this, the Irish Football Association (IFA) governed all football on the island with the all-Ireland international team playing under the name, 'Ireland'. The first international game involving the new Irish association team took place in Turin, Italy in March 1926. The FAIFS also used the name, 'Ireland', for its team even though the IFA still remained in existence and fielded a team under the same name. In 1936, the FAIFS re-adopted its original name, the FAI, in order to conform with the approaching enactment of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland and the impending official name-change of the state from the Irish Free State to Ireland. It was not until 1953 that the FAI team became known as the 'Republic of Ireland', when a FIFA intervention directed that this be so, in order to distinguish the team from the IFA's 'Ireland', who were from then on to be known as 'Northern Ireland'. Three years previously FIFA had also directed that the two associations were to discontinue the practice of choosing players from all over the island and limited them to fielding players from their own respective jurisdictions.

Though they had been involved in international competition since the 1930s, the FAIFS/FAI team did not qualify for any international tournaments until Euro 88 in Germany. That was followed by reaching the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup. The Irish also reached the second round in the 1994 and 2002 World Cups.

The FAI announced on October 17, 2005 that the contract of manager Brian Kerr would not be renewed following elimination from the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers. On 9 January 2006 he was replaced by Steve Staunton, who will be mentored until Euro 2008 by Sir Bobby Robson.

1 Stadium
- 1.1 Croke Park
2 History in major tournaments
- 2.1 World Cup record
- 2.2 European Championships record
3 Notable past players
4 Current squad
5 Fixtures
6 Key historical games
7 Managers
8 Record Caps
9 Record Goal scorers
10 Trivia
11 See also
12 References
13 External links

[edit] Stadium

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). This ground is to be closed for redevelopment in the period 2007-2009. 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.

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 and 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 in Cork venues Mardyke and Flower Lodge.

[edit] Croke Park

With the announcement of the rebuilding of Lansdowne Road, a new venue was required to stage Ireland's home internationals. The only stadium in Ireland capable of holding international football was 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 will be played at Croke Park during 2007.

Date	Teams	Score
24 March 2007	Republic of Ireland v Wales	1 - 0
28 March 2007	Republic of Ireland v Slovakia	1 - 0
13 October 2007	Republic of Ireland v Germany	-
17 October 2007	Republic of Ireland v Cyprus	-

[edit] History in major tournaments

See comprehensive article: Republic of Ireland national football team - record in major tournaments

[edit] World Cup record

1930 Did not enter
1934-1986 Did not qualify
1990 - Quarter-finals
1994 - Round of 16
1998 - Did not qualify
2002 - Round of 16
2006 - Did not qualify

[edit] European Championships record

1960-1984 - Did not qualify

Kit number style

1988 - Round 1
1992-2004 - Did not qualify

[edit] Notable past players

See also Category:Republic of Ireland international footballers

[edit] Current squad

Clubs are part of the English league system except where noted.

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Lee Carsley (Everton)
Jonathan Douglas (Leeds United)
Damien Duff (Newcastle United)
Darron Gibson (Manchester United; on loan at Royal Antwerp )
Stephen Hunt (Reading)
Stephen Ireland (Manchester City)
Kevin Kilbane (Wigan Athletic)
Aiden McGeady (Celtic )
Alan Quinn (Sheffield United)
Andy Reid (Charlton Athletic)
Steven Reid (Blackburn Rovers)

Strikers

[edit] Fixtures

Forthcoming fixtures

Date	City	Opponent	Type of game
May 23, 2007	New York	Ecuador	Friendly game
May 26, 2007	Foxborough	Bolivia	Friendly game
August 22, 2007	Arhus	Denmark	Friendly game
September 9, 2007	Bratislava	Slovakia	Euro 2008 qualifier
September 12, 2007	Prague	Czech Republic	Euro 2008 qualifier
October 13, 2007	Dublin	Germany	Euro 2008 qualifier
October 17, 2007	Dublin	Cyprus	Euro 2008 qualifier
November 17, 2007	Cardiff	Wales	Euro 2008 qualifier

[edit] Key historical games

Italy 3 - 0 Ireland
March 21, 1926. Turin; Friendly;
Ireland's first game independent of the IFA

England 0 - 2 Ireland
September 21, 1949. Goodison Park; Friendly;
England's first defeat at home to a non-Home Nation side

Spain 1 - 0 Republic of Ireland
November 10, 1965: Stade Colombes, Paris; World Cup qualifying playoff;
Was supposed to be played in London (where Irish community would have given huge support), but FAI agreed to move the game to Paris in exchange for 100% of gate money. In front of an almost totally Spanish crowd, the Republic of Ireland lost their best chance of making the finals at that point.

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

Belgium 1 - 0 Republic of Ireland
March 25, 1981:Heysel, Brussels; World Cup qualifer;
Controversial loss which ultimately cost Ireland qualification for the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

Brazil 7 - 0 Republic of Ireland
May 27, 1982:Uberlândia; Friendly;
Republic of Ireland's record defeat

Republic of Ireland 8 - 0 Malta
November 16, 1983: Lansdowne Road; European Championship qualifier;
Record victory

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 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
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 Ferraris Genoa; 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 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 1 - 0 Netherlands
September 1, 2001: Lansdowne Road; World Cup qualifier;
Acclaimed performance, all but guaranteeing World Cup qualification

Cyprus 5 - 2 Republic of Ireland
October 7, 2006. GSP Stadium, Nicosia; European Championship qualifier;
Cyprus (103rd FIFA) become the lowest ranking team ever to beat Ireland in a competetive game.

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

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

[edit] Managers

Team of selectors (1921-1969)
Mick Meagan (1969-1971)
Liam Tuohy (1971-1973)
Seán Thomas (interim, 1973)
Johnny Giles (1973-1980)
Alan Kelly Snr (interim, 1980)
Eoin Hand (1980-1985)
Jack Charlton (1986-1995)
Mick McCarthy (1996-2002)
Don Givens (interim, 2002)
Brian Kerr (2003-2005)
Steve Staunton (2006-)

[edit] Record Caps

As of 29th March 2007; players in italics still active

Rank	Name	Caps
1	Steve Staunton	102
2	Niall Quinn	92
3	Tony Cascarino	88
4	Paul McGrath	83
5	Shay Given	80
	Patrick Bonner	80
7	Kevin Kilbane	78
8	Ray Houghton	73
9	Robbie Keane	72
	Liam Brady	72
11	Frank Stapleton	71
	Kevin Moran	71
13	Andy Townsend	70
	Kenny Cunningham	70
15	John Aldridge	69
16	David O'Leary	68
17	Damien Duff	66
	Roy Keane	66
19	Ian Harte	64
20	Gary Breen	63

[edit] Record Goal scorers

As of 29th March 2007; players in italics still active

Rank	Name	Goals
1	Robbie Keane	29
2	Niall Quinn	21
3	Frank Stapleton	20
4	Don Givens	19
	Tony Cascarino	19
	John Aldridge	19
7	Noel Cantwell	14
8	Gerry Daly	13
9	Jimmy Dunne	12
10	Ian Harte	11

See here for top goal scorers per country.

[edit] Trivia

It is often said in Ireland that Germany's common use of a green-coloured away jersey is in recognition of Ireland being the first team to play Germany after World War 2. Despite the fact that Switzerland were actually the Germans' first opponent, this urban myth persists.
Gary Kelly is the uncle of Ian Harte. Both players featured in the same squad for Ireland's 2002 World Cup campaign.
Ireland and Wales have played each other at five different Dublin venues ; Croke Park, Lansdowne Road, Tolka Park, Dalymount Park and the Royal Dublin Society showgrounds.
Ireland at home are a formidable team, however the away record in qualifying competitions is dismal. In the past 40 years, Ireland have only three away wins against countries who previously qualified for a major tournament; Scotland in 1987, Turkey in 1991 and Northern Ireland in 1994.
Ireland's longest competetive winning streak achieved in 1989 during the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign is five games. The defeated opponents on that occasion were Spain, Northern Ireland, Hungary and Malta twice. Today's team is presently on a competetive winning streak of four games.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

From RSSSF:
- Ireland - International Results
- Ireland - Record International Players covers Appearances and Goalscoring
- IRISH NATIONAL TEAM COACHES (since 1969) (Only covers matches up to June 1999)

International football

v • d • e

Asia: AFC – Asian Cup

Africa: CAF – African Cup of Nations

North America: CONCACAF – Gold Cup

South America: CONMEBOL – Copa América

Oceania: OFC – Nations Cup

Europe: UEFA – European Championship

Non-FIFA: NF-Board – VIVA World Cup

National football teams of Europe (UEFA)