1920s and 1930s

During the 1920s and 1930s, the four national associations that made up the International Football Association Board (IFAB)– The Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales and Northern Ireland's Irish Football Association – refused to recognise the rights of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) when it came arranging full internationals. Consequently, the FAI could not arrange full internationals against its nearest neighbours. The IFAB, however, did permit inter-league games to be played. In the absence of full internationals against England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, these inter-league matches between the League of Ireland XI, the Irish League XI, the Welsh Football League XI and the Scottish Football League XI were highly regarded by both the FAI and Irish football fans alike. Attendances of up to 30,000 at these matches at Dalymount Park led them to have been treated almost as full internationals.

The League of Ireland XI made their official debut with a 3–3 draw against a Welsh Football League XI on 9 February 1924. Ernie MacKay scored the representative team's first ever goal while Dave Roberts added the other two. The League of Ireland XI played the Irish League XI for the first time on 13 March 1926. Charlie Dowdall scored twice in a 3–1 win for the home team. On St. Patrick's Day, 1937, a League of Ireland XI also played and defeated visiting Yugoslav side SK Jugoslavija 3–2.^[1] The League of Ireland XI played the Scottish League XI for the first time on St. Patrick's Day, 1939. The Scottish team was billed as a team of all-stars and had a combined valuation estimated to be £60,000. In front of a crowd of 35,000 at Dalymount Park, the League of Ireland XI defeated the Scottish League XI with Johnny Johnstone and Paddy Bradshaw scoring the goals in the 2–1 win ^[2][3][4]

National Team

The League of Ireland XI has always enjoyed a close relationship with the senior Republic of Ireland national team. When Ireland competed at both the 1924 and 1948 Olympic Football Tournaments, they were represented by League of Ireland XIs made up of amateur players. On at least three further occasions before the Second World War, the FAI selected a full international team entirely made up of players playing in Ireland. On 21 March 1926, for the game against Italy,^[5] the Ireland team even featured Drumcondra’s Joe Grace from the Leinster Senior League. It was a League of Ireland XI that played Belgium on 12 February 1928^[6] and then the Netherlands on 8 December 1935.^[7] Before the Second World War, League of Ireland players made up the nucleus of just about every FAI Ireland full international team.

Post-Second World War

For most of the Second World War era, the League of Ireland XI's only opponents were the Irish League XI. However once the conflict ended, the fixture against the Scottish League XI was revived. They also began to play the Football League XI on a regular basis. With the majority of the leading Irish players now playing in the Football League, however, the League of Ireland XI now found itself at a disadvantage. As a result, the majority of the games they played against the Scottish League XI and the Football League XI usually ended in heavy defeat. However, there was the occasional success story. On 2 October 1963 at Dalymount Park, the League of Ireland XI defeated the Football League XI 2–1, thanks to goals from Eddie Bailham and Ronnie Whelan. This Football League XI included four players – Ray Wilson, Bobby Moore, Roger Hunt and Martin Peters – who subsequently went on to help England win the 1966 FIFA World Cup.^[8] At the time Whelan was working for Unidaire, a Finglas-based electrical firm, and he subsequently received a warning from his boss at the company for taking time off to play in this game.^[9]

Prestige Friendlies

From the late 1970s onwards, the League of Ireland XI also began to play friendlies against national teams. These included two prestige games against the full Argentina national team. On 19 April 1978, at the Estadio Alberto J. Armando, Argentina played the League of Ireland XI in a warm up game as part of their preparations for hosting the 1978 FIFA World Cup. A team that included the former England international Bobby Tambling and several Republic of Ireland internationals such as Johnny Giles, Ray Treacy, Eamonn Gregg, Noel Synnott, Cathal Muckian, Jerome Clark and Synan Braddish lost 3–1 to a very strong Argentina. The starting eleven for Argentina included ten players who later played in the 1978 FIFA World Cup Final in which Argentina beat the Netherlands 3–1. In addition a young Diego Maradona also came on as a substitute. Leopoldo Luque, Oscar Ortiz and Ricardo Villa scored for Argentina before Synan Braddish grabbed a consolation goal for the league select.^[10][11] On 29 May 1979, Argentina, then the reigning World Cup holders, visited Lansdowne Road and were held to a 0–0 draw by a Republic of Ireland XI in a UNICEF fundraiser; this team is sometimes incorrectly listed as a League of Ireland XI.^[12] 30 April 1980 saw the League of Ireland XI play Argentina for a second time, this time at the Estadio Monumental. On this occasion, a team that included Liam Buckley, Terry Eviston, Johnny Walsh and Tommy McConville lost 1–0 to a goal scored by Diego Maradona. A month later, Argentina beat the senior Republic of Ireland 1–0 at Lansdowne Road.^{[8] [13]}

In another notable game from this era, the League of Ireland XI also became the first representative team to play the Basque Country following the ending of the Francoist regime. This game was played on 16 August 1979 at the San Mamés Stadium. The Basque team was made up of Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao players and all eleven subsequently became full Spain internationals. In contrast the league select was under strength and was referred to in newspaper reports as a League of Ireland B team. The Basque Country team easily defeated this League of Ireland XI 4–1.^[14][15] In 1981, the League of Ireland XI returned to South America and this time played Brazil. A team managed by Jim McLaughlin lost 6–0 with the legendary Zico scoring four of Brazil's goals.^[16]

Olympic qualifiers

League of Ireland XIs made up of amateur players represented Ireland in qualifiers for the 1960, 1972, 1976 and 1980 Olympic Football Tournaments. For the 1988 Olympic Football Tournament qualifiers, a senior League of Ireland XI featuring professionals represented Ireland. They were drawn in a "group of death" that also included Hungary, Sweden, Spain and France – France had won the gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Football Tournament. This League of Ireland XI was again managed by Jim McLaughlin.

The team kicked off their Olympic campaign with a 2–1 defeat against Hungary at Glenmalure Park on November 11, 1986. Their next opponents were Spain at Tolka Park on February 4, 1987. Goals from Noel Larkin and Mick Byrne saw the League of Ireland XI draw 2–2. Their first away games came against Sweden and France. The League of Ireland XI lost 1–0 to Sweden after they conceded a very late goal but managed to hold France to a 1–1 draw. On August 26, 1987, a crowd of less than 1,000 saw the League of Ireland XI lose 1–0 at Dalymount Park to a Sweden team that included Tomas Brolin. Next came the home match against France on 18 November 1987 at Dalymount Park. A crowd of just 4,000 would witness one of the League of Ireland XI's best results. Two goals from Mick Bennett and one from Peter Eccles saw them gain a 3–0 win. Ireland finished the qualifying group with two away games. Dave Barry scored in Hungary but the League of Ireland XI lost 3–1 while goals from Barry Kehoe and Bennett earned them a 2–2 with Spain in Alicante. The League of Ireland XI finished fourth in the group. Sweden qualified for the finals where they were knocked out in the quarter-finals.^[17]

Group C Final Table

More information Rank, Team ...

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Sweden	8	6	1	1	13	6	+7	13
2	Hungary	8	5	1	2	13	8	+5	11
3	Spain	8	1	4	3	9	12	−3	6
4	League of Ireland XI	8	1	3	4	10	12	−2	5
5	France	8	1	3	4	9	16	−7	5

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^[18]

1988 Marlboro Cup

In August 1988, the League of Ireland XI competed in the Marlboro Cup, a four team tournament, held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. They lost their first game 3–0 against Club Universidad de Guadalajara on 5 August, with Mick Neville conceding an own goal. They then lost 1–0 to El Salvador in a third place playoff two days later. The tournament was won by Guatemala, who beat Club Universidad 3–2 in the final.^[19]

More information Date, Team #1 ...

Date	Team #1	Result	Team #2	Round
August 5, 1988	Club Universidad de Guadalajara	3-0	League of Ireland XI	Semi-finals
	El Salvador	1–2	Guatemala
August 7, 1988	El Salvador	1–0	League of Ireland XI	Third Place Match
	Guatemala	3–2	Club Universidad de Guadalajara	Final

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