Irish Players that have played in European Club Finals

guinnessdrinker

I started to look up Irish players form North and South that have played in European Club finals earlier on today and I must say that I was surprised at the amount that have been involved in the finals over the years.

Just looking at the list, in 1984 alone six Irish players played in the various European club finals!

Here is a list of players that I have: (I am sure I have missed some, please feel free to add to the list as I think it is quite interesting)

Noel Cantwell: Fairs Cup 1958, London XI
Danny Blanchflower: Fairs Cup 1958, London XI, Cup Winners Cup 1963, Spurs
Johnny Giles: Fairs Cup 1967,1968,1971, European Cup 1975, Leeds Utd.
George Best: European Cup 1968, Man Utd
Shay Brennan: European Cup 1968, Man Utd
Tony Dunne: European Cup 1968, Man Utd
Willie McFaul: Fairs Cup 1969, Newcastle Utd
David Craig: Fairs Cup 1969, Newcastle Utd
Paddy Mulligan: Cup Winners Cup 1971, Chelsea
John Dempsey: Cup Winners Cup 1971, Chelsea
Joe Kinnear: UEFA Cup 1972, Spurs
Pat Jennings: UEFA Cup 1972, Spurs, Cup Winners Cup 1980, Arsenal
Danny Hegan: UEFA Cup 1972, Wolves
Derek Dougan: UEFA Cup 1972, Wolves
Steve Heighway: UEFA Cup 1973, 1976, European Cup 1977, 1978, Liverpool
Martin O Neill: European Cup 1980, Nottingham Forest
Pat Rice: Cup Winners Cup 1980, Arsenal
Sammy Nelson: Cup Winners Cup 1980, Arsenal
Frank Stapleton: Cup Winners Cup 1980, Arsenal
Liam Brady: Cup Winners Cup 1980, Arsenal
David O Leary: Cup Winners Cup 1980, Arsenal
Mickey Walsh: Cup Winners Cup 1984, Porto
Chris Hughton: UEFA Cup 1984, Spurs
Tony Galvin: UEFA Cup 1984, Spurs
Michael Robinson: European Cup 1984, Liverpool
Ronnie Whelan: European Cup 1984, 1985, Liverpool
Mark Lawrenson: European Cup 1984, 1985, Liverpool
Jim Beglin: European Cup 1985, Liverpool
Kevin Sheedy: Cup Winners Cup 1985, Everton
Dennis Irwin: Cup Winners Cup 1991, European Cup 1999, Man Utd
Eddie McGoldrick: Cup Winners Cup 1994, Arsenal
Steve Morrow: Cup Winners Cup 1994, 1995, Arsenal
Neil Lennon: UEFA Cup 2003, Celtic
Steve Finnan: European Cup 2005, 2007, Liverpool
Steven Davis: UEFA Cup 2008, Rangers
John O Shea: European Cup 2009, Man Utd
Damien Duff: Europa Cup 2010, Fulham

Zaph

Frank Stapleton: Cup Winners Cup 1980, Arsenal
Liam Brady: Cup Winners Cup 1980, Arsenal
David O Leary: Cup Winners Cup 1980, Arsenal

To these you can also add Pat Jennings, Pat Rice and Sammy Nelson, all from Northern Ireland.

The_Kew_Tour

and I say you would of had few more only for the Ban in 85.

Not bad record from both sides at all.

LuckyLloyd

To be honest, it kind of shows up the Eoin Hand reign when you see a list like that. I know we came really close to a qualification under him and had seeding issues; but serious amount of talent available for us in the early eighties.

eigrod

Willie McFaul won a Fairs Cup with Newcastle in the late 60s.

The_Kew_Tour

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

To be honest, it kind of shows up the Eoin Hand reign when you see a list like that. I know we came really close to a qualification under him and had seeding issues; but serious amount of talent available for us in the early eighties.

Refs were no help.

mickmackey1

Don't know if you're including Fairs Cups but Noel Cantwell played in the '58 final (along with Danny Blanchflower).

guinnessdrinker

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

To be honest, it kind of shows up the Eoin Hand reign when you see a list like that. I know we came really close to a qualification under him and had seeding issues; but serious amount of talent available for us in the early eighties.

Very good group of players throughout the 80's in both ROI and NI but it didn't transfer to the ROI international team until after Eoin Hand's reign. ROI came very close to qualifying for the '82 World Cup but had very poor performances in the qualification groups for Euro 84 and in particular the Mexico 86 qualification group where they finished second from bottom. Contrast that to NI's ability to qualify for both of the 80's World Cup finals with a smaller pool of players.

The_Kew_Tour

guinnessdrinker wrote: »

Very good group of players throughout the 80's in both ROI and NI but it didn't transfer to the ROI international team until after Eoin Hand's reign. ROI came very close to qualifying for the '82 World Cup but had very poor performances in the qualification groups for Euro 84 and in particular the Mexico 86 qualification group where they finished second from bottom. Contrast that to NI's ability to qualify for both of the 80's World Cup finals with a smaller pool of players.

Did we come close to qualification for WC before 82 also? Think might have been 74? 78 other?

Think one of them was close. Could be wrong.

klose

Whats steve finnan upto these days? Excellent fullback for us and ireland

The_Kew_Tour

klose wrote: »

Whats steve finnan upto these days? Excellent fullback for us and ireland

Sorry that cant answer question, but speaking of him he was one of the best players we have had.

Very underrated footballer both for club and country.

klose

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Sorry that cant answer question, but speaking of him he was one of the best players we have had.

Very underrated footballer both for club and country.

Yup very true. One of my favourite liverpool players and imo havent had as good a full back since he left us. Just looking at his wiki he has quite the medal haul


Club
Notts County
Football League Third Division (1): 1997–98
Fulham
Football League Second Division (1): 1998–99
Football League First Division (1): 2000–01
UEFA Intertoto Cup (1): 2002
Liverpool
FA Cup (1): 2006
FA Community Shield (1): 2006
Football League Cup (1): 2005 Runner-up
FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2005 Runner-up
UEFA Champions League (2): 2004–05, 2006–07 Runner-up
UEFA Super Cup (1): 2005
Portsmouth
FA Cup (1): 2009–10 Runner-up
[edit]Individual
Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year (1): 2001-01
Football League Second Division PFA Team of the Year (1): 1998-99
FA Premier League PFA Team of the Year (1): 2001-02
Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (1): 2001–02
Fulham Player of the Year (1): 2001-02
[edit]


Won 3 of the 4 divisions is a cool little fact i didnt know. Most decorated irish player after roy keane?


Edit, o shea, irwin would have more then him.

mickmackey1

guinnessdrinker wrote: »

Eddie McGoldrick: Cup Winners Cup 1995, Arsenal
Steve Morrow: Cup Winners Cup 1995, Arsenal

McGoldrick appeared as an 87th minute subsitute in '94 but didn't play in '95; Morrow played in both '94 & '95.

Zaph

Zaph wrote: »

To these you can also add Pat Jennings, Pat Rice and Sammy Nelson, all from Northern Ireland.

Didnt John Devine from the Republic play for Arsenal around that time also?

The_Kew_Tour

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Did we come close to qualification for WC before 82 also? Think might have been 74? 78 other?

Think one of them was close. Could be wrong.

On Reeling in the years 1977 it showed us beating France with a Brady goal and then having a perfect Johnny Giles goal disallowed out in Bulgaria for what exactly i dont know. See 7.45 of the youtube video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cg2tBzxMa4

LuckyLloyd

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Did we come close to qualification for WC before 82 also? Think might have been 74? 78 other?

Think one of them was close. Could be wrong.

66 lost a playoff to Spain in the dying minutes
70 finished bottom of our group
74 second of three with France and the Soviets (1 win, 1 draw against France; two narrow defeats to Soviet Union)
78 three of three with France and Bulgaria. Got robbed of a point in Sofia and battered them without being able to score in Dublin
82 Eliminated on Goal Difference in an extremely tough group including France, Belgium and the Dutch. Got robbed away in Brussels by two shocking refereeing decisions in the last few minutes that would have been enough when it all shook out
86 fourth from five with Denmark, Soviet Union, Switzerland and Norway. Picked up 1 point on the road

Had a lot of talent for the 78, 82 and 86 campaigns and played good ball from the games I've seen replayed on TG4 over the years. Jack tightened things up and instilled a winning mentality at the expense of creative freedom.

Interesting site i found about Irish players who played abroad

http://irishfootballersineurope.blogspot.ie/

losthorizon

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

To be honest, it kind of shows up the Eoin Hand reign when you see a list like that. I know we came really close to a qualification under him and had seeding issues; but serious amount of talent available for us in the early eighties.

In fairness we were cheated and I mean totally cheated on one occasion plus it was harder to qualify back then as there were less places available.

losthorizon

Deleted User wrote: »

Interesting site i found about Irish players who played abroad

http://irishfootballersineurope.blogspot.ie/

Good site. Seen a good few of the these players playing in the LOI down the years. John Devine ended up in India? Wierd or what!:eek:

losthorizon

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

66 lost a playoff to Spain in the dying minutes
70 finished bottom of our group
74 second of three with France and the Soviets (1 win, 1 draw against France; two narrow defeats to Soviet Union)
78 three of three with France and Bulgaria. Got robbed of a point in Sofia and battered them without being able to score in Dublin
82 Eliminated on Goal Difference in an extremely tough group including France, Belgium and the Dutch. Got robbed away in Brussels by two shocking refereeing decisions in the last few minutes that would have been enough when it all shook out
86 fourth from five with Denmark, Soviet Union, Switzerland and Norway. Picked up 1 point on the road

Had a lot of talent for the 78, 82 and 86 campaigns and played good ball from the games I've seen replayed on TG4 over the years. Jack tightened things up and instilled a winning mentality at the expense of creative freedom.

82 we were robbed plain and simple over not just one but a couple of games. WE had a great squad and I think our group was actually harder than any we would have got in the first round proper of the WC finals.

Remember it to this day. Those finals were the best Ive ever seen and only Maradonnas individual performance when he drove Argentenia to the title rival it.

The_Kew_Tour

losthorizon wrote: »

82 we were robbed plain and simple over not just one but a couple of games. WE had a great squad and I think our group was actually harder than any we would have got in the first round proper of the WC finals.

Remember it to this day. Those finals were the best Ive ever seen and only Maradonnas individual performance when he drove Argentenia to the title rival it.

Just curious as to what other games in that 82 qualifying group we should of got something more from?

I have heard so much about that Belgium game along with Bulgaria and France games from the 70's where we were robbed each time.

Can only take my Dad and Uncles word for it.

The_Kew_Tour

sugarman wrote: »

Don't forget we were offered a place in the finals of Brazil 1950 after Scotland pulled out, but the FAI couldnt afford to get there. Something I only recently found out... Little did they know it would take another 40yrs for them to eventually get there.

Would love to have known how well or bad we would have done back then in a WC.

We had some decent players maybe just lacked few really good players.

Kerrydude1981

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

66 lost a playoff to Spain in the dying minutes
70 finished bottom of our group
74 second of three with France and the Soviets (1 win, 1 draw against France; two narrow defeats to Soviet Union)
78 three of three with France and Bulgaria. Got robbed of a point in Sofia and battered them without being able to score in Dublin
82 Eliminated on Goal Difference in an extremely tough group including France, Belgium and the Dutch. Got robbed away in Brussels by two shocking refereeing decisions in the last few minutes that would have been enough when it all shook out
86 fourth from five with Denmark, Soviet Union, Switzerland and Norway. Picked up 1 point on the road

Had a lot of talent for the 78, 82 and 86 campaigns and played good ball from the games I've seen replayed on TG4 over the years. Jack tightened things up and instilled a winning mentality at the expense of creative freedom.

I remember watching a few of those games been replayed on TG4 World Cup Gold,we gave the Dutch a great game of it and got a 2 all draw away.Looking at the results of that group we were very unlucky not to get to Spain,the home game against Belgium was probably the game that dented our chances

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(UEFA)

TG4 should bring back that World Cup Gold series again