Irish derby (football) explained

Irish derby
City Or Region:	Ireland (UEFA)
Teams:	Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland
Total:	11
Most Wins:	Republic of Ireland (4)
Most Player Appearances:	Tony Cascarino (8 apps)
Top Scorer:	Robbie Keane Andy Townsend Niall Quinn (2 goals)
Alltimerecord:	Republic: 4 Draw: 5 Northern: 2
Largestvictory:	Republic 5–0 Northern (24 May 2011) Friendly
Largestscoring:	Republic 5–0 Northern (24 May 2011) Friendly
Map Location:	Europe
Map Label1:	Northern Ireland
Map Label1 Position:	right
Map Label2:	Republic of Ireland
Map Label2 Position:	left
Coordinates1:	55°N -5°W
Coordinates2:	53°N -6°W

The Irish derby is a term given to football matches between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. A total of 11 matches has been played with Republic of Ireland winning four as compared to Northern Ireland's two wins and five matches ending in a draw.

History

The rivalry started in the second half of the 19th century, as the sport was becoming popular on the island of Ireland, but due to it being most favoured among the Ulster Protestants community, the Irish Football Association was set up in Belfast rather than the capital city of Dublin. The Association was also biased towards Northern players: between its formation in 1882 and 1921, only 75 southern players were capped for the IFA's Ireland team compared to 798 from the north.^[1] ^[2] Following the partition of Ireland, the Dublin-based Football Association of Ireland was established along with its own national side. Both bodies initially selected players from across the island with little problem (unlike the FAI team, the IFA side was not affiliated to FIFA and continued to take part in the British Home Championship). However, after the Home Nations rejoined FIFA after the Second World War, the 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification process involved both Ireland teams, and the FAI complained when the IFA selected four southern players, leading to FIFA ruling that the teams could only select players from their own part of the island, and neither could be referred to as simply 'Ireland': from then on they were referred to as the Northern Ireland national football team and Republic of Ireland national football team, although the former continued to call themselves Ireland in the British Home Championship until the 1970s.

While attempts have been made to encourage a friendlier relationship between the teams and their communities in the wake of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which did much to bring an end to the 30-year sectarian armed conflict in Northern Ireland, one aspect of that agreement has led to further sporting tension: citizens of Northern Ireland can classify as British or Irish, and several players raised in the North, including some who featured for Northern Ireland at youth and senior levels, have opted to play internationally for the Republic of Ireland, frustrating the selectors in Belfast who already have a limited pool of talent (a population of under two million – less than half of the Republic – and a smaller diaspora in Britain) to choose from.

List of matches

Dublin| align="right" | | align="center" style="color:white; background-color:green;" | 3–0| |-| 5| 31 March 1993|

Dublin| align="right" | | align="center" style="color:white; background-color:red;" | 1–1| |-| 9| 29 May 1999|

Dublin| Friendly| align="right" | | align="center" style="color:black; background-color:white;" | 0–1| |-| 10| 24 May 2011|

Dublin| Friendly| align="right" | | align="center" style="color:white; background-color:red;" | 0–0| |}

Statistics

All-time most appearances

Player	Appearances	Position
Tony Cascarino	8	Striker
Niall Quinn	7	Striker
Paul McGrath		Defender
Andy Townsend		Midfielder
Denis Irwin	6	Defender
Roy Keane		Midfielder
Ray Houghton		Midfielder
Iain Dowie	5	Striker
Nigel Worthington		Midfielder/Defender
Packie Bonner		Goalkeeper
John Aldridge		Striker
Steve Staunton		Defender

Matches between club sides

Club sides from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland first met in European competition when Glentoran and Waterford were drawn against each other in the first round of the 1970–71 European Cup. Following that first meeting, clubs from either side of the Irish border have been drawn against each other a number of times, usually in the early stages of UEFA competitions. However, in the league phase of the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League, Larne's meeting with Shamrock Rovers became the first time clubs from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland had played each other in the group stage of a European competition.^[3]

European Cup / UEFA Champions League
Season	Round	Flag	Team 1	Score	Team 2	Flag	Venue	Attendance	width=60	Win for
1970–71	First round		Glentoran	1–3	Waterford		The Oval, Belfast	8,000
1970–71	First round		Waterford	1–0	Glentoran		Kilcohan Park, Waterford	6,000
1979–80	Preliminary round		Dundalk	1–1	Linfield		Oriel Park, Dundalk	5,000
1979–80	Preliminary round		Linfield	0–2	Dundalk		Haarlem Stadion, Haarlem	1,147
1984–85	First round		Linfield	0–0	Shamrock Rovers		Windsor Park, Belfast	4,907
1984–85	First round		Shamrock Rovers	1–1(a)	Linfield		Glenmalure Park, Dublin	2,200
2005–06	First qualifying round		Glentoran	1–2	Shelbourne		The Oval, Belfast	2,810
2005–06	First qualifying round		Shelbourne	4–1	Glentoran		Tolka Park, Dublin	4,500
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League
2016–17	First qualifying round		Linfield	0–1	Cork City		Windsor Park, Belfast	2,093
2016–17	First qualifying round		Cork City	1–1	Linfield		Turners Cross, Cork	3,521
UEFA Conference League
2024–25	League Phase		Larne	1–4	Shamrock Rovers		Windsor Park, Belfast	5,439

References

Notes and References

Web site: Two shades of Green: The Irish footballing divide . NIFD . www.nifootballdaily.com . June 6, 2021.
Web site: Two remarkable stories from the notoriously hostile Northern Ireland v Republic of Ireland clash in 1993 . Moore . Paul . . joe.ie . 15 November 2018 . June 6, 2021.
Web site: Stephen Bradley promises clear focus ahead of Shamrock Rovers’ historic Euro clash with Larne . McDonnell . Daniel . 23 October 2024 . Irish Independent . 23 December 2024 .