The Northern Ireland national amateur football team was the

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

representative team for Northern Ireland at

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. It was formed in 1906 and continued until 1974.

History

The Northern Ireland amateur national team played the majority of its fixtures versus the amateur representative teams of the other Home Nations – England, Scotland and Wales. The team had a winning record against each of the other Home Nations except England. The team initially represented the whole of Ireland, until the partition of Ireland in 1921. No matches were played against the Republic of Ireland amateur team. Occasional matches were played against representative teams ( Great Britain, Irish League XI) and the team played three matches against non-Home Nations opposition – France, Gold Coast and South Africa. Northern Ireland won the British Amateur Championship on six occasions, in 1948-49 (unofficial, joint with Scotland), in 1953–54, in 1955-56 (joint with England), in 1957-58 (joint with England and Scotland), 1963–64 and 1971–72. The team's first fixture was a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

match played versus England at Dalymount Park on 15 December 1906. Ireland's

Frank Thompson Frank Thompson Jr. (July 26, 1918 – July 22, 1989) was an American politician. He represented in the United States House of Representatives as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat from 1955 to 1980, and was chairman of the United State ...

opened the scoring after six minutes, but quick goals from Harold Hardman and Freddie Wheatcroft saw England win the match 2–1. Aside from a friendly match versus France in 1921, England would be Northern Ireland's sole opponents until 1929, when an annual match with Scotland was first contested. Northern Ireland registered its first win on 19 November 1910, with

James Macauley James Lowry Macauley (born 24 November 1889 – 8 October 1945), also known as Jim, was a professional footballer, who played for Rangers, Huddersfield Town and Preston North End. He also played football for Ireland, scoring one goal. He play ...

Dinny Hannon Denis J. Hannon, also known as Dinny Hannon or Dinney Hannon (31 January 1888 – 23 August 1971), was an Irish footballer who played as an inside-right for both Bohemians and Athlone Town. Born in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland, Hannon was ...

and Johnny McDonnell scoring the goals to complete a 3–2 win over England at

Solitude Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think, or rest without distu ...

. The team was disbanded in 1974, when the FA abolished the distinction between amateurism and professionalism in domestic football. The majority of the team's players played their domestic football in the Irish League for Cliftonville, with Linfield,

Glenavon Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

and

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also contributing a large number of players.

Venues

The team predominantly played its home matches at Solitude ( Belfast). Other frequent venues included The Showgrounds (

), Ballymena Showgrounds and The Oval (Belfast).

Records

Most appearances

Most goals

Honours

* British Amateur Championship winners (3): 1953–54, 1963–64, 1971–72 (additionally shared on three other occasions)

References

{{Northern Ireland national football team

Amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

European national amateur association football teams Former national association football teams in Europe Organizations disestablished in 1974 Amateur sport in the United Kingdom