NI v Denmark(20/11/2023)

Only four players have made their Northern Ireland debuts while playing their football with clubs outside these shores. The first to do so was Johnny Crossan who was with Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam when he made his first appearance for Northern Ireland in a 2-1 defeat to England on 18 November 1959. The other players are: Liam Boyce (Werder Bremen) v Scotland (n) Lost 0-3 – 9 Feb 2011 Jonny Steele (New York Red Bulls) v Turkey (a) Lost 0-1 – 15 Nov 2013 Cameron McGeehan (KV Oostende) v San Marino (a) Won 2-0 – 23 Mar 2023

When QPR’s Paul Smyth scored in the 3-0 win against San Marino last month it meant there was a total of 2030 days between his first and second international goals for his country. Incidentally Northern Ireland have never lost any of the 14 games they have played when a player from Queens Park Rangers has found the net for them (11 wins, 3 draws).

The village of Sion Mills in Co Tyrone has produced three Northern Ireland internationals! The first was goalkeeper Alf Gardiner who picked up five caps between 1930 and 1931 while playing for Cliftonville. Another goalkeeper, Coleraine stalwart Victor Hunter, made two appearances for his country in the 1960s. The last Sion Mills-born player to represent Northern Ireland was Victor’s younger brother Allan, the former Blackburn Rovers and Ipswich Town player, who was capped a total of 53 times.

When Conor McMenamin scored his first international goal in the 3-0 win over San Marino last month he became only the second player born in Downpatrick to register a goal for Ireland/Northern Ireland since 1882. The first player to do so was James Sheridan of Everton who scored twice in six outings for his country, against Wales in March 1903 and versus Scotland in March 1904.

There have been three Canadian-born players who have gone on to win senior international honours with Northern Ireland, with probably the most famous of them being current assistant manager Jimmy Nicholl. The former Manchester United full back was born in Hamilton in Canada but moved back to Northern Ireland with his Ulster-born parents when he was three. The other two players were former Linfield goalkeeper Alan Mannus, who was born in Ontario, and George Forbes, who won three caps for Ireland between 1888 and 1891.

IRISHFA.COM

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ALL STATISTICS CORRECT PRIOR TO FRIDAY’S MATCH WITH FINLAND