The worst moment following Ireland

[Cowboy]

Holland '94 was bad..

The worst I ever got over a match was against Spain '02 world cup.. I actually cryed was in bits.... Don't cry often but that broke my heart was depressed for weeks

Me and three mates just stood on the stadium shell shocked till well after everyone else had gone. Discovered later that BBC held the camera on us for ages, glad i've never seen that tape.

[gspain]

Skopje 1999 was the worst for me. Dreadful day when it looked like we'd be on a runway in Rimini while the game was being played but just made it by kickoff but really for the abject performance and the late goal. They were a poor side missing 9 players and we threw away qualification.

Other notables - Roy Keane as sweeper to hold mighty Iceland 0-0 at Lansdowne in 96. Norway 0-0 in 85. Losing at home to austria in 95 just after the debacle in Liechtenstein.

Israel away will be up there too. Playing Poland off the park for 75 minutes leading 3-1 and then gifting them 2 goals in 91 was a bad one too that ultimately cost us a trip to Sweden.

On the football field I don't think we disgraced ourselves at any of the major finals. Could have done better and empty feelings particularly 94 but Holland twice, Italy and Spain are major footballing sides.

[Eire06]

Me and three mates just stood on the stadium shell shocked till well after everyone else had gone. Discovered later that BBC held the camera on us for ages, glad i've never seen that tape.

Think I remember that, it made me worse...

[lopez]

Losing 4-1 at home to Denmark was a real low point. Around 1985 I think. Last game pre-Jack?

Normally I'd agree with you on this one. But I had met a nice young Danish fan on the ferry the night before and so my mind was largely taken off the match, both before and after, if not exactly through it.

[pineapple stu]

Losing 4-1 at home to Denmark was a real low point. Around 1985 I think. Last game pre-Jack?

Think that's correct - last game under Hand. They'd hammered us in Denmark too - 3-1 or so? Denmark had enver done anything internationally up to that point either (though they were just coming good in the mid-80s)

[lopez]

Think that's correct - last game under Hand. They'd hammered us in Denmark too - 3-1 or so? Denmark had enver done anything internationally up to that point either (though they were just coming good in the mid-80s)

They were semi-finalists at the 1984 European Championships.

[pineapple stu]

They were semi-finalists at the 1984 European Championships.

Really?! Thought the 86 World Cup was their first major finals tournament. Learn something new every day!

[lopez]

Really?! Thought the 86 World Cup was their first major finals tournament. Learn something new every day!

Lost to Spain on penalties.

[gspain]

Really?! Thought the 86 World Cup was their first major finals tournament. Learn something new every day!

The Senor is of course correct that the Danes were semi finalists in EC84 and quite strong when they stuffed us H&A i nthe 86 qualifiers. We blew a 3-1 lead in Copenhagen in 78 when they had just turned professional.

BTW they also reached the 1964 EC semi finals losing to the Soviets in spain I think.

I think 86 was their first world cup but I'm not 100% sure. Need to check the records if I get time.

[OwlsFan]

Yeah forgot about that one, we had a decent team out that day too

Team we had out that day was:

Ireland: McDonagh (Wichita Wings), Moran (Manchester Utd.), Beglin (Liverpool), Lawrenson (Liverpool), O'Leary (Arsenal), Brady (Inter Milan), McGrath (Manchester Utd.), Grealish (W.B.A.), Cascarino (Gillingham), Stapleton (Manchester Utd.), Sheedy (Everton). Subs: P. Byrne (Shamrock Rovers) for Grealish, Robinson (Q.P.R.) for Sheedy

It wasn't a bad team even though we had 4 centre halves playing - McDonagh must be the only Irish player capped playing for Wichita Wings!!

[pineapple stu]

I think 86 was their first world cup but I'm not 100% sure. Need to check the records if I get time.

Definitely was. Remember it from my Italia 90 sticker album! Denmark were included, of course, even though they didn't qualify! Think Romania pipped them at the death!

How off topic is this thread gone now, by the way!

[Cowboy]

Think I remember that, it made me worse...

sorry, we ended up getting blind drunk on hooker hill, gary breen turned up later

[Eire06]

sorry, we ended up getting blind drunk on hooker hill, gary breen turned up later

You all just looked so sad and pityful (no insult intended).. I went home couldn't stay out any longer..

[lopez]

Yeah forgot about that one, we had a decent team out that day too

Another good thing about that day (apart from my legover with the quare one from Denmark) was that we got rid of that eejit Eoin Hand. Man, he was one useless - and miserable - b*stard.

[Cowboy]

You all just looked so sad and pityful (no insult intended).. I went home couldn't stay out any longer..

No insult taken, it was the way we felt . ( I was the one in the tricolour shirt) I have not worn it at a game since

[Cowboy]

Disagree, thought he was just really unlucky apart from that game. Dodgy ref in Belgium etc

Another good thing about that day (apart from my legover with the quare one from Denmark) was that we got rid of that eejit Eoin Hand. Man, he was one useless - and miserable - b*stard.

[brine3]

If Eoin Hand was miserable then what was Charlton...

[Kerry Blue]

For me this was the worst moment. Conceeding that late goal in the thunder storm that night robbed us of a point which would have eventually seen us qualify for the World Cup for the first time. As it turned out we finished level on points with France and they went through on goal difference, and eventually came fourth. My mind was drawn back to this match when Israel scored their late goal last Saturday night week, and I hope déja vu doesn't happen in this campaign.
BTW, I totally disagree with you lopez. Hand was just unlucky. I remember another dodgy goal being scored by Bulgaria (in Sofia in '79, I think). He put a good team together, the core of which formed a large part of Charlton's team in 86-88. Jack had the luck (Gary McKay's goal!), Eoin didn't. The success Hand very nearly had in '82 has been overshadowed by the Charlton years.

[brine3]

For me the worst moment was Goran Straveski's thumping header in the 91st minute. I live in Holland and it would have been great if Ireland had qualified for Euro 2000. Twenty seconds from full time... so close, yet so far. The worst thin about it was that the same ****e happened in Yugoslavia and Croatia and that Macedonia had exactly the same 'goal' disallowed two minutes earlier yet we still didn't cop on.

I knew with our abysmal away record we wouldn't win in the play-offs, so I wasn't expecting us to beat Turkey anyway, so that wasn't as much of a disappointment.

[OwlsFan]

Jack had the luck (Gary McKay's goal!), Eoin didn't. The success Hand very nearly had in '82 has been overshadowed by the Charlton years.

Jack's team finished top of the group with more points than anyone else in the Euro 88 qualification. If the Bulgaria vs Scotland game had been the first match in the group it would have been forgotten with no talk of luck. Bulgaria lost to Scotland at home - they therefore finished with less points than us. No luck involved there. We were the best team in that group. Incidentally, it's the only time we ever topped a group.

I was in Belgium on that miserable night for Eoin Hand. The trend continues. We don't do away wins and concede late goals. The picture of Eoin and Terry Conroy, with their heads in their hands, still remains with me to this day.