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The name of the State according to article 4 of the constitution is, Ireland in the English language and Éire in the Irish language.
Greatest Irish team
-------------Given-------------
Irwin-----McGrath---Hurley------Dunne (Tony)
Duff------Keane Roy----Giles-------Houghton
---------Keane Robbie----Stapleton-------------
Subs: Bonner, Lawrensen, Brady, Townsend, Aldridge.
Owl's, have you seen Hurley play?
Are you sure about Houghton at LM and Duff RM ?
Paul McGrath legend
brady, mcgrath , roy keane , uno , dos , tres
Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
1- GARY BREEN
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3- GARY BREEN
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SUBS - GARY BREEN
maik taylor.
For me, GB was the greatest Irish footballer that ever was (or ever will be?). By "great", I mean for the breadth and depth of his outrageous talents, whether he ever fulfilled those talents or not.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
I would agree, however, that PJ's contribution to the NI team was the greater - he always turned up, if nothing else!
As for the Best v Keegan debate: I have actually got a lot of time for Keegan. I don't think he was so "manufactured" a player as some have suggested. He was a star not just with Liverpool, but also with Hamburg, where they absolutely adored him and he helped turn them from also-rans to Champions. He also won the European Player of the Year twice, which in its 56 year history has only ever been won once by an Irishman (Guess who?).
As an international, he produced one of the top individual displays I've ever witnessed, when England beat NI 4-0 and he was the sole difference between the two teams. (I can't remember an England crowd ever "lighting up" like when KK got the ball, until Gazza came along).
That said, the only reason Keegan "won" the debate over GB was because the audience was English.
As somebody said at the time, "Kevin Keegan isn't fit to lace George Best's drinks" - subsequently tasteless, perhaps, but entirely true nonetheless!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but nothing in your first sentence alters the fact that your football team is called "Republic of Ireland" - check it out with Merrion Square, if you like.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
And your choice of "Greatest Irish team" is interesting, but no more than four would get into my selection - Irwin, McGrath, Roy Keane (through the most severely gritted of teeth) and Giles. Maybe.
fair point ealing.... but then what does that imply about yourself bearing in mind you posted the following comment on this threadQuote:
Originally Posted by EalingGreen
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but nothing in your first sentence alters the fact that your football team is called "Republic of Ireland" - check it out with Merrion Square, if you like."
people in glass houses.............................. political points? ..... WUM more like
well lets see if we cant figure this out-a few scenarios.
you're abroad and someone asks you where you're from.
Dublin lad (or any lad from "republic" or nationalist lad) says "ireland"
unionist lad from any of the 6 counties says.........what? tell us ealing??
ulster (including cavan, monagahan and donegal), UK (technically correct of course) or northern ireland
Ill guarantee you nobody will ever say republic of ireland thats for sure.
but oh yawn i enjoy this cos the north are doing well right now-EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY. david healy will wake up in the morning and his electric blanket will have burnt a small nay insignifcant mark on his thigh which will make him superstitious, maik taylor will realise that maybe the germans arent so bad and before you know it the north will be losin to malta and the planets will be alligned and duff will actually start to play.
Ireland - that's what the fans call the team. Ireland - that's the place the team represents. Ireland - that's the official name of the State. If a few men in Merrion Square wish to give the team another name, good luck to them but they don't always get it right ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by EalingGreen
As for Roy Keane being one of the Irish football greats, the FAI don't think so:
http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=c...d=36&Itemid=51
The first line of the FAI Irish football greats article explains Keane's exclusion.
'Missing anybody? Email us with your suggestions. The criteria for the Greats section is that players must have played international football and must have retired from playing football altogether'
The list hasn't been updated since March 2006. Email them with a suggestion? sounds absurd.
with quinner and mick included on the list it is a bit of a kick balls to keano!
for once i findyself mostly in agreement with you owls fan....although i cannt comment on Dnne or hurley, but no way would i have houghtonQuote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by EalingGreen
gotta say Given is a better keeper than Jennings.....and I cant rem NI having a better striker than Robbie keane....though the furthest I rem back was 1982 World cup
What is your overall selection
This would be my XI:
Shay Given
Denis Irwin
Paul McGrath
Charlie Hurley
Tony Dunne
John Giles
Roy Keane
Liam Brady
Ronnie Whelan
Don Givens
Frank Stapleton
Keane - Doing the most with the least
Best- Doing the least with the most
hard call.
Ray Houghton was THE player of the Charlton era and that seems to have been lost over the years. He used to cover every blade of grass for Ireland and was very creative and for that goal against Italy (when he was nearing the end of his career) I'd have him in any of my teams ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Den Perry
Superhoops, your midfield has no width and leaving out Ireland's top goal scorer of all time? Don't judge Robbie on his current form.
Nothing better to do.
Alan Kelly snr.
Irwin, Lawrenson, McGrath, Dunne.
Houghton, Giles, Brady, Duff.
Stapleton, Givens.
Alan Kelly? even his sperm contained goalkeeping genius :)
Look, I wasn't consiously trying to wind anyone up, nor do I wish to see this thread re-directed to the Current Affairs section for becoming too political. Honest.Quote:
Originally Posted by galwayhoop
To explain fully, I accept completely that it is natural for the name "Ireland" to be employed in everyday use when referring to the FAI team. For instance, fans will shout "C'mon Ireland" etc in the course of a match or will include it in songs and chants, since it scans better.
This is only the same as fans of the IFA team using the term "Ulster" in songs like "Stand Up for the Ulstermen" etc, which seems to irritate some of the posters on this site.
Neither particularly bothers me.
However, I do find it (faintly) irritating when people use "Ireland" in a context which is misleading, or plain wrong - especially when the correct nomenclature is actually easier to use, such as typing "NI", rather than "The North" etc.
In this particular case, despite the Poll's originator having got it correct on Eurosport, the original poster here referred to "Ireland's" Greatest Players, when what he actually meant was "Republic of Ireland's" Greatest Players. Which was why I ventured that other great Irish players like Best, Jennings and Blanchflower should surely have come into the equation.
That's all it was, really and even if I might have anticipated outraged patriots replying with details of the relevant Articles of the Irish Constitution etc, I wasn't actually welcoming it, nor that this thread should get bogged down in political name-calling etc.
For the record, there are two football teams in Ireland. And according to FIFA (the arbiters in such matters), one is to be called "Republic of Ireland" and the other "Northern Ireland".
We Exist. Deal with it. :ball: