Northern Ireland national amateur football team

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.

Northern Ireland Amateurs
AssociationIrish Football Association
Most capsBertie Fulton (21)
Top scorerHugh Barr, Kevin McGarry (11)
FIFA codeNIR
First colours
Second colours
First international
Ireland Amateurs 1–2 England Amateurs
(Dalymount Park, Dublin; 15 December 1906)
Biggest win
Ireland Amateurs 5–1 England Amateurs
(Solitude, Belfast; 13 February 1937)
Biggest defeat
Scotland Amateurs 6–0 Ireland Amateurs
(Celtic Park, Glasgow; 28 January 1933)

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
# Name Position Years Appearances[lower-alpha 1] Goals
1 Bertie Fulton LB 1925–1939 21 1
2 Ernie McCleary CH 1948–1956 15 0
3 Kevin McGarry IF 1948–1956 15 11
4 Hugh Barr FW 1957–1962 14 11
5 Billy Johnston IF 1961–1966 13 3
6 Maurice McVeigh OL 1949–1957 13 1
7 Frank Montgomery RB 1951–1955 13 0
8 Jackie Davis LB 1953–1956 12 0
9 Joe Patterson RB 1964–1969 12 0

Most goals
# Name Position Years Goals[lower-alpha 2] Appearances
1 Hugh Barr FW 1957–1962 11 14
2 Kevin McGarry IF 1948–1956 11 15
3 Dennis Guy CF 1965–1969 5 8
4 Hugh Cunningham OL 1948–1954 5 11
5 Boy Martin CF 1931–1933 4 4
6 Paddy Hasty CF 1955–1961 4 5
7 Dennis Kelleher FW 1938–1950 4 8
  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. 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. "FAI History: The Early Years | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  3. "(Northern) Ireland Amateur International Results (1906–1974)". nifootball.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  4. McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 27.
  5. McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 44.
  6. McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 315-324.
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