- Northern Ireland B national football team
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Northern Ireland B Nickname(s) Green & White Army,
Norn IronAssociation Irish Football Association Head coach Nigel Worthington Most caps 5 Pat McGibbon (1995-1999) Top scorer 3 Derek Dougan (1957-1959) Home stadium Windsor Park / Mourneview Park / Coleraine Showgrounds FIFA code NIR 
Home colours
Away coloursFirst international 
Northern Ireland 6-0, Romania B 
October 23, 1957Biggest win Northern Ireland 6-0, Romania B October 23, 1957Biggest defeat 
France B 5-0 Northern Ireland, March 16, 1960Northern Ireland B is a secondary football team run occasionally as support for the Northern Ireland national football team. Primarily seen as a stepping-stone between the Under-21 and Full international teams, the matches are also used to give a run-out for fringe players and to honour Irish League players who would not otherwise gain international recognition. Matches are rarely played by Northern Ireland at this level due to their limited player pool necessitating rapid elevation of young players to the 'Full' squad.
Matches have been played against other football associations' 'B' teams and against various national "selects".
Contents
History
The Northern Ireland 'B' team made its first appearance in 1957, playing against Rumania 'B' who were not deemed worthy of a 'Full' international (note: Romania was commonly referred to as Rumania in the English language up until the 1980s). The occasion of October 23, 1957 marked the first use of the Windsor Park floodlights for an international fixture. A one sided match finished 6-0 with a hat-trick from Derek Dougan and further goals from Sammy McCrory, Sammy Chapman and Jackie Scott.
The match against Rumania was followed up with two matches against France B in 1959 and 1960 before Under-23 international matches became de rigueur in the 1960s. The 'B' format re-emerged in the 1990s as national teams focussed on Under-21 rather than Under-23 matches and thus a "stepping stone" from Under-21 to 'Full' was required.
Northern Ireland's most recent match at 'B' level was against Scotland B in May 2009.
Fixtures
None
Previous Matches
Performance Record:
P W D L F A Gd 11 4 1 6 16 19 -3 Date Opponent Score Venue 23 October 1957 Rumania B 6-0 Windsor Park, Belfast 11 November 1959 France B 1-1 Windsor Park, Belfast 16 March 1960 France B 0-5 Stade du Coteau, Annecy 10 May 1994 England B 2-4 Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield 21 February 1995 Scotland B 0-3 Easter Road, Edinburgh 26 March 1996 Norway Olympic XI 3-0 The Showgrounds, Coleraine 28 March 1997 Portugal Under-21 2-0 Mourneview Park, Lurgan 11 February 1998 Republic of Ireland B 1-0 Tolka Park, Dublin 9 February 1999 Wales B 0-1 The Racecourse Ground, Wrexham 20 May 2003 Scotland Future 1-2 Firhill Stadium, Glasgow 6 May 2009 Scotland B 0-3 Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld Squad for most recent game
(vs. Scotland B, May 6, 2009)
Defenders
- Robbie Weir (Sunderland)
- Chris Casement (Wycombe Wanderers)
- Adam Chapman (Oxford United)
- Ryan McGivern (Manchester City)
- Scott Gibb (Stirling Albion)
- Jeff Hughes* (Bristol Rovers)
- Daniel Laftery (Celtic)
- Shane Duffy (Everton)
- Craig Cathcart* (Manchester United)
- Rory McArdle* (Rochdale)
Midfielders
- Michael O'Connor (Crewe Alexandra)
- Corry Evans (Manchester United)
- Niall McGinn (Celtic)
- Robert Garrett (Linfield)
- Pat McCourt (Celtic)
- Oliver Norwood (Manchester United)
- Shane Ferguson (Newcastle United)
- Martin Donnolly* (Crusaders)
Forwards
- Andrew Little (Rangers)
- Curtis Allen* (Lisburn Distillery)
- James Lawrie (Port Vale)
- Dean Shiels* (Doncaster Rovers)
- Josh McQuoid (AFC Bournemouth)
- Jamie Ward* (Sheffield United)
- * Player withdrew from final squad.
Other previous players
Goalkeepers
- Alan Fettis
- Roy Carroll
- David Miskelly
- Elliott Morris
- Tom Evans
Defenders
- Iain Jenkins
- Pat McGibbon
- Colin Murdock
- Darren Patterson
- Aaron Hughes
- Keith Rowland
- Peter Kennedy
- Barry Hunter
- Stephen Craigan
- Mike Duff
- Danny Griffin
- Gareth McAuley
- Paul Morgan
- Chris Baird
Midfielders
- Jon McCarthy
- Danny Sonner
- Philip Mulryne
- Stephen Robinson
- Michael O'Neill
- Danny Lennon
- Jeff Whitley
- Tommy Doherty
- Grant McCann
- Wayne Carlisle
- Stuart Elliott
- Steve Jones
- Shaun Holmes
- Jim Whitley
Forwards
- Gerry McMahon
- George O'Boyle
- David Healy
- Rory Hamill
- Gary Hamilton
- Andy Kirk
- Andy Smith
Former coaches
(Record: Played Won-Drawn-Lost)
- Peter Doherty 1957-1959 (2 1-1-0)
- Len Graham 1960 (1 0-0-1)[1]
- Bryan Hamilton 1994-1997 (4 2-0-2)
- Roy Millar 1998 (1 1-0-0)
- Lawrie McMenemy 1999 (1 0-0-1)
- Sammy McIlroy 2003 (1 0-0-1)
References
- ^ Daily Mirror Northern ireland Soccer Yearbook 2008-09 (ed. Malcolm Brodie) Page 112
External links
Northern Ireland national football team General Venues Windsor Park · Celtic Park · Solitude · Grosvenor Park · The Oval · Dalymount Park · Balmoral Showgrounds · Bloomfield · Ulster Cricket Ground ·Statistics Major tournament recordPlayers World Finals Other tournaments Culture Other FA teams Association football in Ireland All-Ireland Original IFA national team · Dublin and Belfast Intercity Cup · North-South Cup · Blaxnit Cup · Texaco (All-Ireland) Cup · Tyler Cup · Irish News Cup · Setanta Sports CupNorthern Ireland Republic of Ireland Categories:- Northern Ireland national football team
- European national B association football teams
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