O'Neill gives his backing for a United Ireland team

[ifk101]

Did you notice this stat on the FIFA website EG?

Detail time range summary - From Aug 1993 To Apr 2008
Team: Republic of Ireland
Average Ranking: 27.703

Team: Northern Ireland
Average Ranking: 78.418

Also NI's highest ranking in that time period is 27, ie pretty much the same as ROI's average for a 15 year period.

[Pike B]

Nice try, but I suspect Sir David might have something even more pressing to do that day, like washing his hair, or re-arranging his sock drawer.

That's if he's not too busy receiving another Award from the President (that's Platini, not McAleese, btw):
http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/ki...id=676692.html

Ha ha ha.... Very good my northern comrade... It was worth a shot though

[geysir]

Pity you didn't grow up EG, most fans grandparents can't even remember the post war Mick Meagan era.

We are comfortable knowing that class tells, NI doing well now despite their average FIFA position of 78 whereas we will rise to a ranking befitting of our FIFA average 27.

[youngirish]

Nice try, but I suspect Sir David might have something even more pressing to do that day, like washing his hair, or re-arranging his sock drawer.

That's if he's not too busy receiving another Award from the President (that's Platini, not McAleese, btw):
http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/ki...id=676692.html

Sir David ffs. EG you really are a stocking. He won't be picking up any awards for Fulham this season that's for sure. He'll be back where he belongs next year, in the Championship together with most of the rest of your first team.

We have way better players than NI irrespective of any selective results you wish to bring up or any silly FIFA rankings that anyone who really understood anything about football would claim aren't even worth the paper they are written on. With a decent manager on board I'm confident we'd hammer them in a competitive match (we always have hammered you generally in competitive matches after all, haven't we?). Remember Wales hammered you at home? We beat them a few months later we did.

I personally don't aspire to a united Ireland team as player wise you've nothing to offer of any substance imo and I cringe at the thought of fans like you supporting such a team and bragging to everyone in the International community about how good we are when we scrape a win against Lienchenstein or other such rubbish. This is not the mentality of most of our fans. We don't believe we are World beaters when we get hammered one week by Iceland but beat Latvia at home the following.

You remind me more of a typical English fan tbh with your selective memory when it comes to picking results and your over hyping of your team based on just those selective results. You'd be better united within a UK team to be honest of which NI wouldn't get a single player in the squad. I'd rather see that and keep our team to ourselves thank you very much.

[EalingGreen]

Did you notice this stat on the FIFA website EG?

Detail time range summary - From Aug 1993 To Apr 2008
Team: Republic of Ireland
Average Ranking: 27.703

Team: Northern Ireland
Average Ranking: 78.418

Also NI's highest ranking in that time period is 27, ie pretty much the same as ROI's average for a 15 year period.

August 1993? A "mere blink of an eye".

I'd be interested to see the rankings for a certain other team during this period:
102 27.10.1965 Seville Spain 1-4 WCq
103 10.11.1965 Paris Spain 0-1 WCq

104 04.05.1966 Dublin West Germany 0-4
105 22.05.1966 Vienna Austria 0-1
106 25.05.1966 Liège Belgium 3-2
107 23.10.1966 Dublin Spain 0-0 ECq
108 16.11.1966 Dublin Turkey 2-1 ECq
109 07.12.1966 Valencia Spain 0-2 ECq
110 22.02.1967 Ankara Turkey 1-2 ECq
111 21.05.1967 Dublin Czechoslovakia 0-2 ECq
112 22.11.1967 Prague Czechoslovakia 2-1 ECq
113 15.05.1968 Dublin Poland 2-2
114 30.10.1968 Katowice Poland 0-1
115 10.11.1968 Dublin Austria 2-2
116 04.12.1968 Dublin Denmark 1-1 1 WCq
117 04.05.1969 Dublin Czechoslovakia 1-2 WCq
118 27.05.1969 Copenhagen Denmark 0-2 WCq
119 08.06.1969 Dublin Hungary 1-2 WCq
120 21.09.1969 Dublin Scotland 1-1
121 07.10.1969 Prague Czechoslovakia 0-3 WCq
122 15.10.1969 Dublin Denmark 1-1 WCq
123 05.11.1969 Budapest Hungary 0-4 WCq

124 06.05.1970 Dublin Poland 1-2
125 09.05.1970 Berlin West Germany 1-2
126 23.09.1970 Dublin Poland 0-2
127 14.10.1970 Dublin Sweden 1-1 ECq
128 28.10.1970 Malmö Sweden 0-1 ECq
129 08.12.1970 Rome Italy 0-3 ECq
130 10.05.1971 Dublin Italy 1-2 ECq
131 30.05.1971 Dublin Austria 1-4 ECq
132 10.10.1971 Linz Austria 0-6 ECq
133 18.06.1972 Recife Iran 2-1
134 19.06.1972 Natal Ecuador 3-2
135 21.06.1972 Recife Chile 1-2
136 25.06.1972 Recife Portugal 1-2
137 18.10.1972 Dublin Soviet Union 1-2 WCq
138 15.11.1972 Dublin France 2-1 WCq
139 13.05.1973 Moscow Soviet Union 0-1 WCq
140 16.05.1973 Wroclaw Poland 0-2
141 19.05.1973 Paris France 1-1 WCq
142 06.06.1973 Oslo Norway 1-1

Anyway, as any Irish farmer could tell you, you make hay while the sun shines . After all, it will be p issing down on all of us again, soon enough...

[paul_oshea]

Sir David ffs. EG you really are a stocking. He won't be picking up any awards for Fulham this season that's for sure. He'll be back where he belongs next year, in the Championship together with most of the rest of your first team.

We have way better players than NI irrespective of any selective results you wish to bring up or any silly FIFA rankings that anyone who really understood anything about football would claim aren't even worth the paper they are written on. With a decent manager on board I'm confident we'd hammer them in a competitive match (we always have hammered you generally in competitive matches after all, haven't we?). Remember Wales hammered you at home? We beat them a few months later we did.

I personally don't aspire to a united Ireland team as player wise you've nothing to offer of any substance imo and I cringe at the thought of fans like you supporting such a team and bragging to everyone in the International community about how good we are when we scrape a win against Lienchenstein or other such rubbish. This is not the mentality of most of our fans. We don't believe we are World beaters when we get hammered one week by Iceland but beat Latvia at home the following.

You remind me more of a typical English fan tbh with your selective memory when it comes to picking results and your over hyping of your team based on just those selective results. You'd be better united within a UK team to be honest of which NI wouldn't get a single player in the squad. I'd rather see that and keep our team to ourselves thank you very much.

YI, international football at the end of the day is about results. NI are doing better on that front than we are, as is David healy irrespective of his club form/non-form. It doesn't matter one Iota where or who they play for, if they are doing it for their national team thats all that matters.

[Pike B]

YI, international football at the end of the day is about results. NI are doing better on that front than we are, as is David healy irrespective of his club form/non-form. It doesn't matter one Iota where or who they play for, if they are doing it for their national team thats all that matters.

That's the truth. I am more intrested in international football than club. Always have been, and I think what Healy has achieved is remarkable. And well done to him for doing so. If he were Cypriot, Lithuanian or Belgian I'd say the same..

[ifk101]

Where did you get those results EG? Have you been saving them for a rainy day?

[jmurphyc]

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. Don't you wish you'd been born Brazilian then?

You see, for this Irish football fan, it's not, nor ever has been, about "success", or "qualifying". Which is why I've followed my team when we couldn't buy a goal, never mind a win. When we were an International laughing stock. When we couldn't play our "home" games at home. When our players were an embarrassment on the pitch and some of our fans an even worse one on the terraces. It's why, when we did get back home, and I was overseas, I still tried to get back when I could - even after the humiliation of getting humped 4-0 by our friends from South of the border.

For once, I agree with (part of) your post. If having a united Ireland team made us stronger then that would be fantastic, but I don't want that until almost everyone would be happy with it. If NI players who are happy playing for NI were merged with the South then, much like Spain with their Basque and Catalan players, would probably fail to live up to their ability and not really be bothered with playing for the team and consistently underachieve.

I only want a united team when we are ready for it (if that ever happens) as otherwise we may have a disillusioned support and players. I want to support something which makes me proud - irrespective of how bad they are - because I want to embrace my national identity. No matter how poor we have been under Staunton (and I've been unlucky in that I've only started regularly going to competitive games under his regime) I still love this team and I know that when the dark days are over I'll appreciate a better generation all the more. That is something which we won't be able to have if we somehow managed an artificial union with the NI football team, even if they were as good as Brazil.

[Pike B]

At the end of the day it's a bad idea. I mean look at the farce of the rugby team. Two national anthems when we play at home, and just that idiotic Irelands Call when we're away. You can see the way the rugby lads react to it. To see that at the new Landsdowne would be awful. Leave it alone for me... Ireland and Northern Ireland will do fine....

[EalingGreen]

Sir David ffs. EG you really are a stocking. He won't be picking up any awards for Fulham this season that's for sure. He'll be back where he belongs next year, in the Championship together with most of the rest of your first team.

Doesn't bother me. If anything, it only adds to my pride when our players rise to the occasion when wearing the green shirt. Don't you wish your players could do the same?

We have way better players than NI irrespective of any selective results you wish to bring up

Again, doesn't bother me, but you might point it out to some of your fellow ROI fans, who seem to have forgotten the Tenth Commandment - "Thou shall not Covet thy Neighbour's Assets" etc

or any silly FIFA rankings that anyone who really understood anything about football would claim aren't even worth the paper they are written on.

I wouldn't completely disagree when you describe the FIFA Rankings as silly". Still, that's not the same as "unimportant". After all, they allowed you to achieve the same 3rd Seeding for the 2010 WCQ's as us...

With a decent manager on board I'm confident we'd hammer them in a competitive match

Maybe, maybe not. What's your record like with football predictions, anyhow? Mine's crap, which is one reason I like to stick to the present over the future.

(we always have hammered you generally in competitive matches after all, haven't we?)

"Always", "generally"? Amusing (even if unintentionally so )

Remember Wales hammered you at home? We beat them a few months later we did.

Who was it used the phrase "better... ... irrespective of any selective results you wish to bring up"? It gets funnier all the time...
(Btw, 3-2 is hardly a "hammering". At least, not like 5-2.)

I personally don't aspire to a united Ireland team as player wise you've nothing to offer of any substance

Please tell that to some of your fellow ROI fans, then, not me.

I cringe at the thought of fans like you supporting such a team

That's one prospect about "fans like me" you'll not ever have to worry about, that's for sure! And that's even if any such team ever did come about during my lifetime. Or yours.

(Though come to think about it, were you e.g. in Dublin when ROI played Argentina in 1980? Or in Genoa in 1990 when you played Romania? If so, you might have been a lot closer to "fans like me" than you knew!)

and bragging to everyone in the International community about how good we are when we scrape a win against Lienchenstein or other such rubbish. This is not the mentality of most of our fans. We don't believe we are World beaters when we get hammered one week by Iceland but beat Latvia at home the following.

I've never referred to NI as world beaters. Not have I accused others of only quoting "selective results" to prove my case, then turned round and done the very same thing myself.

You remind me more of a typical English fan tbh with your selective memory when it comes to picking results and your over hyping of your team based on just those selective results.

"Typical English fan"? No stereotyping there, then, you bog-trotting, pig-in-the-parlour Paddy.

"Selective memory"? "Picking results"? Tell me, Mr. Kettle, have I ever intorduced you to my good friend, Mr. Pot?

You'd be better united within a UK team to be honest of which NI wouldn't get a single player in the squad. I'd rather see that and keep our team to ourselves thank you very much.

As I've said before, I've no more desire for a United Kingdom team than I have for a United Ireland team. But when it comes to you keeping your team to yourselves, that's one point on which you and I are very much "united"!

[geysir]

For once, I agree with (part of) your post. If having a united Ireland team made us stronger then that would be fantastic, but I don't want that until almost everyone would be happy with it. If NI players who are happy playing for NI were merged with the South then, much like Spain with their Basque and Catalan players, would probably fail to live up to their ability and not really be bothered with playing for the team and consistently underachieve.

Do they fail to live up to their expectations because Basque and Catalan players are not up for it?
Interestingly, FIFA have in their statutes a procedure for allowing membership for a region which has not gained full independence. But crucially it needs the support of the dependent FA

"An Association in a region which has not yet gained independence
may, with the authorisation of the Association in the country on
which it is dependent, also apply for admission to FIFA".

[EalingGreen]

Where did you get those results EG? Have you been saving them for a rainy day?

Hardly. The sun's shining on us these days...

(But they're always useful for gloomy days when I could do with a laugh )

[jmurphyc]

Do they fail to live up to their expectations because Basque and Catalan players are not up for it?
Interestingly, FIFA have in their statutes a procedure for allowing membership for a region which has not gained full independence. But crucially it needs the support of the dependent FA

"An Association in a region which has not yet gained independence
may, with the authorisation of the Association in the country on
which it is dependent, also apply for admission to FIFA".

I'm not saying that is the sole reason why Spain have underachieved but I wouldn't be surprised if it is at least part of the reason. The FIFA statute is interesting but I fail to see what it has to do with our current debate.

[EalingGreen]

I'm not saying that is the sole reason why Spain have underachieved but I wouldn't be surprised if it is at least part of the reason. The FIFA statute is interesting but I fail to see what it has to do with our current debate.

One of the reasons why Spain have underachieved may be because the National Team does not attract the unconditional support of all its constituent parts (though personally, I'd be loathe to push that point too far).

Just as people sometimes say about Italians that the only thing which ever truly unites them are the Azzurri. And their results are none too shabby, are they?

As I see it, those who want to see a united football team for Ireland because it would lead to more "success" are deluded, since being a team game, true "unity" of purpose is more important than increased talent.

And as for those people who wish to see a united team for political reasons, I daresay they are entitled to do so. But they're missing out on the true meaning and importance of sport when they do (imo).

I only want a united team when we are ready for it (if that ever happens) as otherwise we may have a disillusioned support and players. I want to support something which makes me proud - irrespective of how bad they are - because I want to embrace my national identity. No matter how poor we have been under Staunton (and I've been unlucky in that I've only started regularly going to competitive games under his regime) I still love this team and I know that when the dark days are over I'll appreciate a better generation all the more. That is something which we won't be able to have if we somehow managed an artificial union with the NI football team, even if they were as good as Brazil.

Well said! And re. your final point, that is why NI fans have all embraced our favourite terrace anthem so warmly:

"We're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland, though it's all the same to me".

(Mind you, we also sang "Brazil! It's just like watching Brazil!" when we went 3-0 up against Georgia last month. We're a contrary bunch and no mistake )

At the end of the day it's a bad idea. I mean look at the farce of the rugby team. Two national anthems when we play at home, and just that idiotic Irelands Call when we're away. You can see the way the rugby lads react to it. To see that at the new Landsdowne would be awful. Leave it alone for me... Ireland and Northern Ireland will do fine....

Close, Pike B, so close!

[Gather round]

Ealing, would ye mind awfully not slagging off the great Peter Rafferty on here? There are other places for such wilful bias

[co. down green]

But what about you, CDG? I must say, I'm worried about you .

Don’t be worried, EG. Like the thousands of Ireland supporters in the ‘wee six’, we are quite content supporting our team, and are also content in the fact that our teams already represent all Parts of the island.

I'm not just old enough to remember when my team had qualified for three World Cups before half your lot had even visited the Irish Embassy in London to apply for their first (second?) Passport.

Is it true that Maik Taylor qualified for the North because his great, great, great Granny once ate an Ulster fry while on a visit to Ireland from her home in Lower Saxony?

Sure, if I'd really wanted "success", or even mere "qualification", maybe a "united" Ireland team might do the trick more often

I would have presumed that the goal of any team is to be successful and qualify for the finals of major tournaments, but perhaps your lot have lower ambitions. I suppose playing in a glorified pigeon shed at home doesn’t help.

[ifk101]

(But they're always useful for gloomy days when I could do with a laugh )

That's worrying.

Anyways I don't think this NI rivalry with your near neighbours is mutually shared EG. I certainly don't feel any rivalry with NI and maybe, of the few that support an United Ireland team, this is the reason why.

[Hibernian]

Can it really work having a United Ireland team?

No

Why?

Well because we are two seperate countries simple really.

Next Brazil and the Argentina will want to join together.

We are still well behind this idea or dream of united ireland football team.

Let me take your mind back to Feb 2006 and the Dublin riots where these so called irishmen singing there anthem till hearts content while at same time burning cars belonged to irish people. Fair play lads that made sense.

and why have I brought this up?

well basically these are same fools who would want to disrupt this process going through in the first place and at end of day nobody wants to see that crap (thats being very nice) happening again.

[Gather round]

Who are your rivals then IFK? I mean, I assume you have some, and as we're nearby and of almost the same standard, surely we'd be ideal?