Northern_Ireland_national_amateur_football_team

Northern Ireland national amateur football team

Northern Ireland national amateur football team

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The Northern Ireland national amateur football team was the amateur representative team for Northern Ireland at football. It was formed in 1906 and continued until 1974.

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History

The Northern Ireland amateur national team played the majority of its fixtures versus the amateur representative teams of the other Home Nations – England, Scotland and Wales.[1] The team had a winning record against each of the other Home Nations except England.[1] The team initially represented the whole of Ireland, until the partition of Ireland in 1921.[1][2] No matches were played against the Republic of Ireland amateur team.[3] Occasional matches were played against representative teams (Great Britain, Irish League XI) and the team played three matches against non-Home Nations opposition – France, Gold Coast and South Africa.[1][3] Northern Ireland won the British Amateur Championship on six occasions, in 1948-49 (unofficial, joint with Scotland), in 1953–54, in 1955-56 (joint with England), in 1957-58 (joint with England and Scotland), 1963–64 and 1971–72.[1]

The team's first fixture was a friendly match played versus England at Dalymount Park on 15 December 1906.[4] Ireland's Frank Thompson opened the scoring after six minutes, but quick goals from Harold Hardman and Freddie Wheatcroft saw England win the match 2–1.[4] Aside from a friendly match versus France in 1921, England would be Northern Ireland's sole opponents until 1929, when an annual match with Scotland was first contested.[3] Northern Ireland registered its first win on 19 November 1910,[3] with James Macauley, Dinny Hannon and Johnny McDonnell scoring the goals to complete a 3–2 win over England at Solitude.[5] The team was disbanded in 1974, when the FA abolished the distinction between amateurism and professionalism in domestic football.[1] The majority of the team's players played their domestic football in the Irish League for Cliftonville, with Linfield, Glenavon, Coleraine and Distillery also contributing a large number of players.[6]

Venues

The team predominantly played its home matches at Solitude (Belfast).[1] Other frequent venues included The Showgrounds (Coleraine), Ballymena Showgrounds and The Oval (Belfast).[1]

Records

Most appearances

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Most goals

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  1. Four players finished their amateur international careers with 11 appearances – Bobby Brolly, Hugh Cunningham, Sammy Magee and Billy McCullough.
  2. Eight players finished their amateur international careers with 3 goals – Jimmy Gibb, Billy Johnston, Harry McCracken, Johnny McDonnell, Jimmy Millar, Sammy Pavis, Phil Scott and Jimmy Shields.

Honours

  • British Amateur Championship winners (3): 1953–54, 1963–64, 1971–72 (additionally shared on three other occasions)[1]

References

  1. [1]
    McColl, Brian; Gorman, Douglas; Campbell, George. "FORGOTTEN GLORIES – British Amateur Internationals 1901–1974" (PDF). pp. 10–22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  2. [2]
    "FAI History: The Early Years | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  3. [3]
    "(Northern) Ireland Amateur International Results (1906–1974)". nifootball.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  4. [4]
    McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 27.
  5. [5]
    McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 44.
  6. [6]
    McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 315-324.
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