Northern Ireland v Cyprus (12/06/2020)

DID YOU KNOW?

WORDS: MARSHALL GILLESPIE

Northern Ireland’s youngest ever scorer was Distillery’s Samuel Johnston who netted a consolation goal in a 7-1 defeat to Wales at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham on 25 February 1882 aged just 15 years and 153 days. His only other goal for his country came just over four years later in March 1886 when he was on target in a 7-2 British Championship defeat to Scotland in Belfast .

When Steven Davis found the net as a substitute in the 3-1 victory over Luxembourg back in March, he was aged 37 years and 83 days, making him the second oldest player ever to score in an international for Northern Ireland. The oldest player to find the net for Northern Ireland was Derby County’s Archie Goodall who was 38 years and 282 days when he scored in a 2-0 win over Wales at Solitude in March 1903.

A total of 41 players have scored for Northern Ireland after coming on as a substitute in a full international . The first substitute to score in an international was Oldham Athletic’s Willie Johnston in a 4-1 friendly victory over Mexico at Windsor Park on 22 June 1966. The youngest substitute to score a goal for Northern Ireland is Kyle Lafferty who was aged just 18 years and 334 days when he hit the winner in a friendly encounter in Finland in August 2006.

Northern Ireland have benefitted from a total of 10 own goals over the past 140 years. The first own goal was scored by England’s Reg Williamson who put through his own net in a 1-1 draw between the countries at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough in February 1905. Interestingly two of the last four goals that Northern Ireland have registered at the National Stadium have come from opposition players. Slovakia’s Milan Skriniar netted in the 2-1 defeat to Slovakia in the Euro Play-Off final in November 2020 and a year later Benas Satkus turned the ball past his own keeper to give Ian Baraclough’s men a 1-0 win over Lithuania.

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NIR V CYP

*ALL STATS CORRECT PRIOR TO THE GAME WI TH KOSOVO ON THURSDAY.