1800s On 18 February 1882, two years after the founding of the Irish FA, Ireland made their international debut against
England, losing 0–13 in a friendly played at
Bloomfield Park in
Belfast, becoming the fourth international side ever to take the field. This result remains the record win for England and the record defeat for an Ireland team. The Irish line-up that day included
Samuel Johnston, who at the age of 15 years and 154 days became the youngest international debutant, which was a record until
Aníbal Zapicán Falco played for Uruguay in 1908 at the age of 15 years and nine days. On 25 February 1882 Ireland played their second international against
Wales at the
Racecourse Ground,
Wrexham and an equaliser from Johnston became Ireland's first ever goal, although Ireland went on to lose 1–7, the goal also saw Johnston became the youngest ever international goalscorer. In 1884 Ireland competed in the inaugural
British Home Championship and lost all three games. Ireland did not win their first game until 13 March 1887, a 4–1 win over Wales in Belfast. Between their debut and this game, they had a run of 14 defeats and 1 draw, the longest run without a win in the 19th century. Despite the end of this run, heavy defeats continued to blight Ireland's record, including 3 March 1888 when they lost 0–11 to Wales, and on 23 February 1901 when they lost 0–11 to Scotland. These losses, together with the initial loss to England still constitute the record wins held by each of the other
home nation teams. However, there were some brighter moments: on 7 February 1891 an Ireland team featuring
Jack Reynolds and four-goal hero
Olphert Stanfield defeated Wales 7–2, providing Ireland with their second win. Reynolds international performances attracted the interest of
West Bromwich Albion who signed him in March 1891, however it was later discovered that Reynolds was actually English. On 3 March 1894 at the
Solitude Ground in Belfast, after thirteen attempts Ireland finally avoided defeat to England, the team that included
Fred Spiksley and Reynolds, who had since switched allegiances, Ireland gained a 2–2 draw. Goals from Stanfield and
W.K. Gibson inspired Ireland to come back from 2–0 down to gain a 2–2 draw. Lacking the strength in depth enjoyed by
England and
Scotland, Irish internationals of this era started younger and their careers lasted longer than their English or Scottish contemporaries. As a result, Ireland fielded both the youngest and oldest national teams during the 19th century. Samuel Johnston had led the way in the early 1880s. Then on 27 February 1886
Shaw Gillespie, at the age of 18, became the youngest goalkeeper of the 19th century. Both Olphert Stanfield and W.K. Gibson were only 17 when they made their debuts. Another 17-year-old debutant was future
Worcestershire cricketer,
George Gaukrodger. In Johnston, Gibson and Gaukrodger, Ireland also had three of the four youngest goalscorers in the 19th century. Stanfield would go on to win 30 caps for Ireland, making him the most capped international of the century.
British champions Front(l-r):
Ted Seymour,
Sam Young,
Billy Gillespie,
Alex Craig,
Bill Lacey,
Louis Bookman,
Bill McConnell Ireland's greatest success on the football field came when they won the
1913–14 British Home Championship. However the foundations for that success had been laid over a decade earlier when Ireland had pioneered the use of national team coaches. The first time in the history of modern football that a national team had a coach was on 20 February 1897 when
Billy Crone was in charge of the Ireland team that lost 6–0 to
England, again for the wins against
Wales on 19 February 1898, on 4 March 1899, Ireland was coached by
Hugh McAteer, and on 24 February 1900
Robert Torrans coached Ireland for the game against
Wales. In 1914 McAteer would return to coach Ireland to their greatest success. In 1899 the
IFA also changed its rules governing the selection of non-resident players. Before then the Ireland team selected its players exclusively from the
Irish League, in particular the four
Belfast-based clubs,
Cliftonville,
Distillery,
Glentoran and
Linfield. On 4 March 1899 for the game against
Wales, McAteer included four Irish players based in England. The change in policy produced dividends as Ireland won 1–0. Three weeks later, on 25 March one of these four players,
Archie Goodall, aged 34 years and 279 days, became the oldest player to score at international level during the 19th century when he scored in a 1–9 defeat to
Scotland. Goodall remained a regular at centre-half for Ireland until he was almost 40. On 28 March 1903, aged 38 years and 283 days, he scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win against
Wales and became the oldest goalscorer in Ireland's history. The goal also helped an Ireland team, that also included
Jack Kirwan,
Billy Scott,
Billy McCracken and
Robert Milne, clinch a share in the
1902–03 British Home Championship. Until then the competition had been monopolised by
England and
Scotland. However, in 1903, before
goal difference was applied, Ireland forced a three way share. Despite losing their opening game 0–4 to England, the Irish then beat Scotland for the first time with a 2–0 win at
Celtic Park. On 15 February 1913, with a team captained by
Val Harris and including Billy Scott and two-goal hero
Billy Gillespie, Ireland beat England for the first time with a 2–1 win at
Windsor Park. In
1914 Ireland went a stage further and won the championship outright. Harris and Gillespie were joined in the squad by among others,
Patrick O'Connell and
Bill Lacey. Gillespie scored twice as Ireland beat
Wales 2–1 away, Ireland then beat
England 3–0 at
Ayresome Park,
Middlesbrough with Lacey grabbing two of the goals. They clinched the title following a 1–1 home draw with
Scotland in what would be their last match until the end of the
First World War.
Inter-war years Following the end of hostilities, the
British Home Championship resumed in October 1919, opening with Ireland taking on England at Windsor Park. The championship winning team had since broken up, and in their first game, Ireland fielded eight debutants, and despite only losing one game in the first post war competition, they finished the tournament in last place. Ireland never refound the form of their 1914 winning season, and only managed two second places in the following twenty years. However they did have a number of excellent match performance including beating England 2–1 at Windsor Park on 10 October 1923 with a team featuring
Tom Farquharson,
Sam Irving,
Bobby Irvine and
Billy Gillespie. During the 1920s, Billy Gillespie set the Irish FAs record of thirteen goals in an international career, of which seven of these came at the expense of England. Gillespie's record was eventually equalled by
Colin Clarke in 1992 and broken by
David Healy in 2004, thus holding the record for nearly 80 years. Throughout Ireland's formative years they exclusively played against
England,
Scotland and
Wales, both in friendlies and in the
British Home Championship. However, in the 1920s there were occasions when Ireland played other teams, including
France,
Norway and
South Africa, for various reasons, such as the number of amateur players involved, the status of these internationals has been disputed. noting six goal hero Bambrick's home in Belfast On 10 October 1927 Gillespie and Irving were joined by
Elisha Scott as they defeated England 2–0 at Windsor Park, in the following match a defeat by Wales in Belfast put the championship beyond reach, however on 25 February 1928 an inspired goalkeeping performance from Scott helped Ireland defeat Scotland 1–0, their first win against the Scots in eighteen years, gaining the side their best season finish since 1914. On 2 February 1930 Ireland beat Wales 7–0 with
Joe Bambrick, playing at his home
club ground scoring six of the seven goals. This remains the team's record win to this day, and Bambrick's six goals was the highest tally by any player in a single match in the history of the competition, and remains unequaled to this very day. the FAI was recognised by FIFA as the governing body of the Irish Free State on the condition that it changed its name to the
Football Association of the Irish Free State. At the same time, the IFA continued to organise its national team on an all-Ireland basis, regularly calling up Free State players. During this era at least one
Northerner,
Harry Chatton, also played for the Irish Free State and from 1936, the FAI began to organise their own all–
Ireland team. Both teams now competed as
Ireland and during this era at least 39
dual internationals were selected to represent both teams. In an era when national teams played only a few games a year, it was rare for professional players to turn down an opportunity to play at international level. Between 1928 and 1946 the IFA were not affiliated to FIFA and the two
Ireland teams co-existed, never competing in the same competition. Only in 1949, they both would participate in the
qualifying tournament for the 1950 World Cup.
End of the era During the
Second World War all home internationals were suspended, however, during this period Ireland played an unofficial match against a
combined services eleven, which was effectively a Great Britain side containing
Matt Busby,
Stanley Matthews,
Tommy Lawton and
Stan Mortensen. The game was a high scoring affair with Ireland losing 4–8, with all four Ireland goals coming from the future manager
Peter Doherty. The performance of Doherty was such that the match commentator,
Maurice Edelston, stated "He was almost a one-man team – and if Ireland had two Dohertys that day, I shudder to think what might have happened". In 1946, when the Home Nations resumed official internationals, the IFA-FAI split was highlighted as England played both teams in the same week.
The English FA requested each association to select only players from its jurisdiction, "quoting the International Federation rule to that effect". The FAI complied, but not the IFA, and two players from the 2–7 defeat in Belfast on 28 September played again in the 0–1 defeat in Dublin on 30 September. On 27 November, seven players born in the 26 counties, including
Johnny Carey,
Peter Farrell and
Con Martin, played in the IFA side's 0–0 draw with
Scotland. The draw helped the team finish as runners-up in the
1946–47 British Home Championship. From then until the 1949–50 season the IFA regularly selected five to seven players born in the Free State and were rewarded with some respectable results, including a 2–0 win against
Scotland on 4 October 1947 and a 2–2 draw with
England at
Goodison Park on 5 November the same year. issued by Hignett Bros. & Co. in 1924, displaying the IFA cap and logo The Irish FA, along with the other Home Nations, rejoined FIFA to compete in the
World Cup; the
1949–50 British Home Championship was used as the qualifying group. Ireland hosted the first ever World Cup qualifier in which a home nation side competed, losing 2–8 to Scotland in Belfast, and eventually finishing bottom of the group only managing to take a point, away to Wales. During the match against
Wales at the
Racecourse Ground,
Wrexham, the IFA fielded an all-Ireland team for the last time. The team included four players –
Tom Aherne,
Reg Ryan,
Davy Walsh and the captain
Con Martin – who were born in the
Irish Free State, and all four of whom had previously played for the
FAI international team in their qualifiers and as a result had played for two different associations in the same
FIFA World Cup tournament. The FAI took steps to prevent players from what was now the
Republic of Ireland turning out for the IFA's Ireland team. All UK-based players from the Republic were pressured to sign an undertaking not to play for the IFA.
Jackie Carey was the last to comply, in April 1950. Rule 35(b) of the FAI articles provided that players based in the Republic would be denied clearance certificates for
transfers abroad unless they gave a similar undertaking. The IFA complained to FIFA; in April 1951, FIFA replied that the FAI rule 35(b) was contrary to its regulations, but also that the IFA team could not select "citizens of
Eire". An exception was for British Home Championship games, However, the exception would only apply "if the F.A. of Ireland do not object", (see
names of the Irish state), but FIFA subsequently ruled neither team could be referred to as
Ireland, decreeing that the FAI team be officially designated as the
Republic of Ireland, while the IFA team was to become
Northern Ireland. The IFA objected and in 1954 was permitted to continue using the name
Ireland in Home Internationals, based on the 1923 agreement. This practice was discontinued in the late 1970s. == Home grounds ==