Northern Ireland v Luxembuourg (05/09/2024)

WORDS: William Campbell

REMEMBERING HEROES OF THE PAST

In the 30 years from 1983 to 2013 I was privileged to manage 110 international matches at Windsor Park. Good ones, great ones, diabolical ones, famous victories, dismal draws and devastating defeats. There were great goals, memorable goals, scrappy goals, goals that should have been prevented and goals that could not have been. Whilst I was central to the organisation of the games, quite rightly I remained unimportant. The only important people at an international football match are, of course, the players. No-one ever sought my autograph or asked me for my shirt (it would have been always yellow in the latter years anyway) and that is as it should be.

HEROES OF THE PAST (CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE) CHRIS NICHOLL, JIMMY McLAUGHLIN AND TOMMY CASSIDY

So I think it only right that we should remember three of our heroes who have sadly passed away since our last home international against Denmark back in November. Two of them were heroes of Spain ’82, while the other was a man with a tremendous goalscoring record who scored two goals against England despite injury. Chris Nicholl, who died in March, and Tommy Cassidy, who passed in July, were both members of Billy Bingham’s squad in Spain.

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NIR V LUX