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. 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
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, 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 and then the
Netherlands on 8 December 1935. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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.
Group C Final Table 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.
Aviva Stadium Manchester United On 4 August 2010, the League of Ireland XI hosted the first soccer match to be played at the
Aviva Stadium. A team managed by
Damien Richardson lost 7–1 to
Manchester United. The league select were 6–0 down after 70 minutes, with goals from
Park Ji-sung (2),
Michael Owen,
Javier Hernández,
Antonio Valencia and
Jonny Evans. Park opened the scoring in the 13th minute in bizarre fashion; as he went to block a defender's clearance, the ball ricocheted off him and into the net. Owen doubled United's lead in the 25th minute with a chipped shot over the goalkeeper, before half-time substitute Hernández made it 3–0 two minutes after the break. Three goals in the space of nine minutes from Valencia (60th minute), a second from Park (63rd) and
Jonny Evans (69th) increased the lead to 6–0, before Dave Mulcahy scored a consolation goal for the League of Ireland XI in the 78th minute. Nevertheless, there was still time for
Nani to get a seventh goal, converting a penalty after Hernández had been fouled in the penalty area.
Dublin Super Cup Damien Richardson was again in charge of the League of Ireland XI when the Aviva Stadium hosted the
2011 Dublin Super Cup, a tournament which saw the representative team take on both
Manchester City and
Celtic.
Shamrock Rovers players, however, were not available because of a clash with the
2011–12 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off rounds. As a result, Richardson had to field an understrength team. They lost their opening game to Manchester City 3–0, then lost 5–0 to Celtic. The League of Ireland XI were the only team in the tournament that didn't win a match or score any goals. ==League of Ireland XI matches==