Republic of Ireland national football team

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Republic of Ireland national football team

Nickname(s)	The Boys in Green
Association	Football Association of Ireland
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Giovanni Trapattoni
Asst coach	Marco Tardelli
Captain	Robbie Keane
Most caps	Steve Staunton (102)
Top scorer	Robbie Keane (35)
Home stadium	Croke Park Lansdowne Road
FIFA code	IRL
FIFA ranking	38
Highest FIFA ranking	6 (August 1993)
Lowest FIFA ranking	57 (November 1998)
Elo ranking	31
Highest Elo ranking	8 (April 2002, August 2002)
Lowest Elo ranking	67 (May 1972)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Irish Free State 1 - 0 Bulgaria  (Stade Olympique, Colombes, France; 28 May 1924)
Biggest win
Republic of Ireland 8 - 0 Malta (Dalymount Park, Dublin, 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	Quarter finals, 1990
European Championship
Appearances	1 (First in 1988)
Best result	Group stage, 1988

The Republic of Ireland national football team (Irish: Foireann náisiúnta sacair Phoblacht na hÉireann) represents 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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Irish Free State 1.2 Ireland 1.3 Competitive history 2 Stadium 2.1 Lansdowne Road 2.2 Croke Park 2.3 Other venues 3 Kit 4 Results and fixtures 4.1 Schedule and recent results 4.2 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 5 Competitive record 5.1 World Cup record 5.2 European Championship record 6 Notable former players 7 Backroom Staff 8 Current squad 8.1 Recent call-ups 9 Key historical games 10 Managers 11 Most-capped players 12 Record goal scorers 13 See also 14 References 15 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 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 country called 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 21 September 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.^[9]

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. As of November 2008, Trapattoni went six games unbeaten, winning three of the six games. His seventh game in charge was a 2–3 defeat in a friendly against Poland at Croke Park.^[10]

[edit] Stadium

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 O'Neills and 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 grey shirt available. The team have only ever used it once and that was a 2-2 draw with Wales on 17 November 2007.

[edit] Results and fixtures

[edit] Schedule and recent results

Matches from the past six months as well as any future scheduled matches.

Date	Venue	Opponent	Competition	Score	Irish scorers (Career goal #)
20 Aug 2008	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo	Norway	Friendly	1-1 D	Robbie Keane (34)
6 Sep 2008	Stadion am Bruchweg, Mainz1	Georgia	WCQ G8	1-2 W	Kevin Doyle (6) Glenn Whelan (1)
10 Sep 2008	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica	Montenegro	WCQ G8	0-0 D
15 Oct 2008	Croke Park, Dublin	Cyprus	WCQ G8	1-0 W	Robbie Keane (35)
19 Nov 2008	Croke Park, Dublin	Poland	Friendly	2-3 L	Stephen Hunt (1) Keith Andrews (1)
11 Feb 2009	Croke Park, Dublin	Georgia	WCQ G8
28 Mar 2009	Croke Park, Dublin	Bulgaria	WCQ G8
1 Apr 2009	Bari	Italy	WCQ G8
6 Jun 2009	TBD	Bulgaria	WCQ G8
5 Sep 2009	TBD	Cyprus	WCQ G8
10 Oct 2009	Croke Park, Dublin	Italy	WCQ G8
14 Oct 2009	Croke Park, Dublin	Montenegro	WCQ G8

Notes

• ¹ The match to be hosted by Georgia in Tbilisi was moved to Mainz, Germany over safety concerns as a result of the conflict in South Ossettia between Georgia and the combined forces of Russia and the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.^[11]

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 8

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Italy 4 3 1 0 6 2 +4 10  Republic of Ireland 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 7  Bulgaria 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3  Montenegro 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2  Georgia 4 0 2 2 2 5 −3 2  Cyprus 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1

Bulgaria  – 1 Apr 14 Oct 0 – 0 5 Sep 6 Jun Cyprus  10 Oct – 28 Mar 1 – 2 6 Jun 5 Sep Georgia  0 – 0 1 – 1 – 5 Sep 1 Apr 1 – 2 Italy  9 Sep 14 Oct 2 – 0 – 2 – 1 1 Apr Montenegro  2 – 2 9 Sep 10 Oct 28 Mar – 0 – 0 Republic of Ireland  28 Mar 1 – 0 11 Feb 10 Oct 14 Oct –

[edit] Competitive record

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

[edit] World Cup record Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 1930 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 1934 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - 1938 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1950 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1954 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1958 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1962 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1966 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1970 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1974 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1978 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1982 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1986 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1990 Quarter-finals 8 5 0 4 1 2 3 1994 Second round 15 4 1 1 2 2 4 1998 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 2002 Second round 12 4 1 3 0 6 3 2006 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - Total 3/18 - 13 2 8 3 10 10

[edit] European Championship record Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 1960 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1964 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1968 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1972 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1976 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1980 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1984 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1988 Group Stage 5 3 1 1 1 2 2 1992 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1996 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 2000 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 2004 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 2008 Did not qualify - - - - - - - Total 1/13 - 3 1 1 1 2 2

*Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.

[edit] Notable former players

See also: Republic of Ireland International Footballers

This is a list of famous or notable sports persons with no clear inclusion or exclusion criteria. Please help to improve Wikipedia by ensuring that there is consensus on the inclusion criteria on the talk page, using guidance available at WP:notable players. Please do not remove this message until the section contains only verifiable material.

John Aldridge Jim Beglin Packie Bonner Liam Brady Shay Brennan Johnny Carey Noel Cantwell Tony Cascarino Paddy Coad Kenny Cunningham Gerry Daly Jimmy Dunne Tony Dunne Eamon Dunphy Tommy Eglington

Peter Farrell Steve Finnan Bob Fullam Johnny Giles Don Givens Steve Heighway Matt Holland Ray Houghton Jason McAteer Charlie Hurley Denis Irwin Roy Keane Gary Kelly Mark Kinsella Mark Lawrenson Bill Lacey

Mick McCarthy Paul McGrath Kevin Moran Paddy Moore Kevin O'Flanagan David O'Leary Niall Quinn Michael Robinson Kevin Sheedy John Sheridan Frank Stapleton Steve Staunton Alex Stevenson Andy Townsend Gary Waddock Ronnie Whelan

[edit] Backroom Staff

• Manager: Giovanni Trapattoni
• Assistant Manager: Marco Tardelli
• Assistant Manager: Liam Brady
• Coach:
• Goalkeeping Coach: Alan Kelly
• Fitness Coach: Fausto Rossi
• Team Doctor:
• Physiotherapist:
• Scouts: Frank Stapleton

[edit] Current squad

The squad named for the friendly against Poland on 19 November 2008.^[12]

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club GK Shay Given 20 April 1976 91 0 Newcastle United GK Joe Murphy 21 August 1981 1 0 Scunthorpe United GK Keiren Westwood 23 October 1984 0 0 Coventry City DF Alex Bruce 28 September 1984 2 0 Ipswich Town DF Damien Delaney 20 July 1981 2 0 Queens Park Rangers DF Richard Dunne 21 September 1979 46 5 Manchester City DF Kevin Foley 1 November 1984 0 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers DF Kevin Kilbane 1 February 1977 92 7 Wigan Athletic DF Paul McShane 6 January 1986 13 0 Hull City DF John O'Shea 30 April 1981 50 1 Manchester United MF Keith Andrews 13 September 1980 1 1 Blackburn Rovers MF Damien Duff 2 March 1979 71 7 Newcastle United MF Darron Gibson 25 October 1987 4 0 Manchester United MF Stephen Hunt 1 August 1981 15 1 Reading MF Andy Keogh 16 May 1986 9 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers MF Liam Miller 13 February 1981 19 1 Sunderland MF Glenn Whelan 13 January 1984 7 1 Stoke City FW Kevin Doyle 18 September 1983 23 6 Reading FW Caleb Folan 26 October 1982 2 0 Hull City FW Noel Hunt 26 December 1982 1 0 Reading FW Shane Long 22 January 1987 9 3 Reading FW Anthony Stokes 25 July 1988 3 0 Sheffield United

[edit] Recent call-ups

The following players have earned at least one cap in the previous six months.

Goalkeepers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Dean Kiely	10 October 1970	West Bromwich Albion	10 (0)	v.  Cyprus, 15 October 2008

Defenders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Steve Finnan	20 April 1976	RCD Espanyol	53 (2)	v.  Montenegro, 10 September 2008
Stephen Kelly	6 September 1983	Birmingham City	12 (0)	v.  Montenegro, 10 September 2008

Midfielders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Aiden McGeady	4 April 1986	Celtic	22 (0)	v.  Cyprus, 15 October 2008
Andy Reid	29 July 1982	Sunderland	27 (4)	v.  Cyprus, 15 October 2008
Steven Reid	10 March 1981	Blackburn Rovers	23 (2)	v.  Montenegro, 10 September 2008

Strikers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Robbie Keane	8 July 1980	Liverpool	85 (35)	v.  Cyprus, 15 October 2008
D