IT’S been a long time coming for Northern Ireland.
After 13 unsuccessful attempts to quality for a European Championships, victory over Greece in Windsor Park recently sealed a historic first for Michael O’Neill’s men. While they have had the World Cups of 1982 and ’86 to look back on, they’ve spent much of the last two decades looking enviously at the Republic of Ireland’s relative success.
The tables haven’t quite been turned yet, though Bosnia might see to it that they are. But even in anticipation of that – perhaps even fear – the notion of one team for the island has been reignited. For one, former ROI legend and one of the Grumpy Old Men of RTÉ’s soccer coverage John Giles believes it will happen somewhere down the line.
Our first ‘Anonymous’ caller to Off the Fence rang to wonder aloud how well an all-island team would fare.
“Delighted for the two Irish soccer teams after their wins over Germany and Greece. They were magnificent. Think of what they could do if there was one team representing Ireland. Just like the rugby.”
In her defence, she rang prior to Argentina and all that.
‘MARK from Lurgan’ is of a vintage that recalls the famous ‘five-minute’ FA Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester United some 36 years ago. His most vivid memory is of how many Irish players were involved that day.
“I’m old enough to remember the ’79 FA Cup final between Arsenal and United and, in that game, there were eight Irish players on the field. Now, you’d hardly have eight Irish players in the Premiership as a whole. It shows the demise of Irish soccer. Alright, we have one team going to France, but we’re waiting on the other team to get through the play-offs.
“But where are we going? If we can’t get players into the top league in England, it’s going to be difficult going forward. It was Jennings, Rice, Nelson, O’Leary, Brady, Stapleton, Nicholl and McIlroy all to the fore in May 1979.”
Those were very different times. English football is no longer English football, but global football played in England. There were, indeed, eight Irish players involved in that famous Wembley final, but of the 24 players involved that day, none came from outside Britain or Ireland. How many of them would have been top flight players in the modern era? The lack of Irish players in the Premier League is exacerbated by the overwhelming financial power of the league. There were better players than the Irish out there in 1979, there just wasn’t the money or the gumption to go and buy them.
NORTHERN Ireland fan ‘Tom’ also had high praise for the conduct of the Greek supporters after their side fell to defeat at Windsor Park.
“We were coming over the bridge after the match and, at the bottom of the road, there was a big crowd of Greek supporters with Northern Ireland flags, applauding us as we came down. It would be nice to mention this kind of sportsmanship as, had there been any fighting or trouble, it would’ve been all over the news. I’ve waited to see and there’s been no comment on TV or in any of the papers about it. I want the Greeks to know that it was very much appreciated.”
ON TO Gaelic games and the ever-growing medal haul of one Paul Hearty. Last weekend saw him collect an unprecedented 19th county medal and his first as captain of Crossmaglen Rangers.
‘Raymond’ was effusive in his praise of the former Armagh number one, who came away from his inter-county career with plenty to show for that as well.
“Will any player ever match what Paul Hearty has done with Crossmaglen? He plays in a team that has dominated football in Armagh and beyond since 1996 and it would be easy to suggest he was in the right place at the right time. Maybe so, but to command your place in such a team simply makes the achievement more impressive.
“How many good young goalkeepers from Crossmaglen have warmed the bench while Hearty kept the cream of Ireland’s forwards at bay? To put it in an Armagh context, he has won more Championship medals (19) than any other club side has won in the county’s history, as Armagh Harps won 13 of their 20 crowns under a previous name.
“Just for good measure, you can throw in 10 Ulster club titles and six All-Irelands. And it looks a fair bet that Paul will pick up medal number 20 in Armagh in 2016. For ‘fair bet’, read ‘certainty’.”
It’s unlikely that any player will ever match his medal haul. It’s simply extraordinary.
AND lastly ‘Johnny from Divis’ picked up on some perceived inconsistencies in comments made by everyone’s favourite pundit.
“Joe Brolly, this year, was scathing about the Dublin v Kerry final, about how it was a ‘non-event’ and how he was basically fed up with the cream coming to the top. But Joe’s an absolute advocate for Crossmaglen and their rightful domination of Gaelic football at club level over the last 20 years. The bizarre thing is, if Joe’s such an advocate for Cross, they’ve just won their 19th Armagh county final in 20 years.
"How can he marvel at Cross and not marvel at the maestros that are Kerry and Dublin, to an extent? Although I really appreciate his analysis at times, it’s poppycock really when you analyse a lot of these pundits and what they’re saying. The ironies are there staring us in the face.”
You can’t make headlines by saying the same thing 52 weeks of the year…
