The Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubs (AONISC) criticised the move and said it would not be offering its services for the matches.
However, last night fans’ spokesman Gary McAllister said as well as fury over the travel arrangements, many supporters were taking a stand over the ongoing player eligibility dispute.
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Last year the IFA failed to overturn a ruling that a Northern Ireland-born player holding an Irish passport is eligible to represent the Republic.
Commenting on the boycott, Mr McAllister said: “We are pleased that the vast majority of block-bookers have stood together. Given that there are around 11,000 block-bookers this is a huge rejection of these games by the regular Northern Ireland fanbase and I think it is very significant.”
“We highlighted the issue over the travel arrangements, with which we were unhappy, but there is a significant number of Northern Ireland fans who have taken a personal decision not to attend because of the player eligibility issue.”
He added: “Given that it would appear there will be further defections by players who have been capped at underage level by Northern Ireland, what we now need to do is focus on the matter as it is the biggest issue facing Northern Ireland football today.”
FA spokesman Geoff Wilson said the football authority was “disappointed” with the small number of travelling fans.
“We thought we would have had several thousand going to the game and obviously that has not materialised,” he said.
Asked if the ticketing policy had a detrimental effect on numbers, Mr Wilson said: “The ticketing policy had an effect but I do think the main reason why people are boycotting [the game] is over the player eligibility issue.
“People understand the reason why we implemented the strict ticketing policy was because of the interests and security of our fans. However, the fans that are speaking to us and writing on the forums are stating the player eligibility issue (as their main reason for not attending).”
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