Northern Ireland v Norway Official Match Programme

Scarlett outside Belfast City Hall when it turned green to honour the Northern Ireland team during Euro 2016.

Heidi and Scarlett McAlpin cheer on the boys in green

aided by Artur Boruc, Ulster’s Number One. Good times never seemed so good… I’ve witnessed Windsor Park half empty and full to the rafters, and I know which I prefer. It’s great to welcome a new generation of fans, and I’m delighted to say my 10-year-old daughter Scarlett has broken her Kop duck with the Croatia friendly. She knows ‘Jonny, Jonny Evans’ and ‘Corry, Corry Evans’, can sing the chorus of ‘Sweet Caroline’, nah- nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nahs to ‘Will Grigg’s On Fire’ and remains undimmed despite the result. A true Norn Iron fan. And that’s the thing about the Windsor faithful. Whether a veteran or newbie, you need to relish the lows as much as the highs. Because without those character-defining slumps in form, those rain- sodden winter friendlies, Dalglish not turning up… Euro qualification and Paris medals will never attain the same lustre. We may not be Brazil but Northern Ireland, be assured, we will support you ever more.

bouncing from stand to stand included a stint on the Kop terraces and that final match encased within its under-stress concrete. All the while fans found the funny in the most bizarre of circumstances. I well remember that wonderful moment in 2004 when the team broke its record-breaking 1,298 minutes goal drought and we all sang ‘We Are The Champions’. Sure where else would you get it? And I’ll never forget ‘Where’s The Ball?’ morphing into ‘There’s The Ball!’ when the replacement orange orb appeared on the pitch during the famously foggy Finland friendly of 2003. You’ll know what I mean if you were one of the hardy 6,000 souls in attendance. Little did we know then the euphoria that was to envelop the Windsor fortress just two years later. Healy’s magnificent goal and Beckham applauding fans as he trudged dejected from the pitch made for an epic night in September. Then being hustled through the line of riot police on Tates Avenue for the 2009 win against Poland, our team selflessly

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