Northern Ireland v Cyprus (12/06/2020)

Preston North End forward Andrew Gara is the only player to score a hat-trick on his Irish debut when he hit all three goals in a 3-0 win over Wales in Cardiff in February 1902. Ten players have, however, managed to hit a brace of goals in their first game in a green shirt , the last being our record top scorer David Healy in a 3-1 success in Luxembourg on 23 March 2000, which was incidentally also Sammy McIlroy’s first game in charge of Northern Ireland.

Prior to the Kosovo game, Northern Ireland were only three goals away from reaching 700 in international football . Previous milestones have been reached by the following players: 1st : Samuel Johnston v Wales (a) (25.02.1882) 100th : Billy Gillespie v England (h) (19.01.1914) 200th : Billy Simpson v France (a) 12.05.1951 300th : Derek Dougan v Scotland (h) 02.10.1965 400th : Ian Stewart v West Germany (h) 17.11.1982 500th : James Quinn v Belgium (h) 11.02.1997 600th : Paddy McCourt v Faroe Islands (h) 10.08.2011

A total of 36 teenagers have managed to score for Northern Ireland in the past 140 years. Astonishingly seven of Norman Whiteside’s nine goals for his country came before the age of 20! His first was in a 3-1 win over Austria in Belfast when he was just 18 years and 137 days old and his last as a teenager came when he hit both goals in a 2-0 World Cup qualifier victory at home to Turkey in May 1985 at the ripe old age of 19 years and 359 days.

The fastest goal recorded by a Northern Ireland player was on 31 March 1954 when Peter McParland scored just 30 seconds into his full debut in a 2-1 victory over Wales at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham. To cap a wonderful debut for the then 19-year-old he also managed to score a second half winner. Here are a list of the other fastest goals scored by Northern Ireland players. 56 seconds : Derek Spence v Wales (h) 25.05.1979 56 seconds : Danny Wilson v Poland (h) 23.03.1988 1 minute : Olphie Stanfield v Wales (h) 27.04.1889 1 minute : Davy Walsh v Scotland (a) 17.11.1948

Only three players have ever scored for Northern Ireland in a full international while being attached to foreign clubs. Gerry Armstrong was the first player to achieve this feat when he scored in the 1-1 draw with Wales in Swansea in May 1984 while at Spanish side Real Mallorca. He repeated this achievement six months later when he scored the winner from the penalty spot against Finland. The other players to score while playing abroad are:

James Quinn (Willem II) v Serbia & Montenegro (h) 28.04.2004 Kyle Lafferty (FC Sion) v Finland (h) 15.08.2012 Kyle Lafferty (Caykur Rizespor - loan) v Finland (h) 29.03.2015 (2 goals)

IRISHFA.COM

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