20 years ago today - that night in Windsor Park...

ArnoldJRimmer

Don't think I've ever celebrated a goal like Alan McLoughlin's, before or since. The whole family went crazy. I remember that it was a pretty poor game apart from the two cracking goals. Very few chances for either side, so when the North went ahead, I thought that was it. The sheer relief when the equaliser went in was something else.

Although things were very tense in the North at the time, I don't think anyone (in the Republic anyway) was prepared for the level of hatred from the crowd that night. Some of the chants as the teams took the field were truly appalling. Glad Charlton told Billy Bingham where to go after the game too

Fr Tod Umptious

thebaz wrote: »

I'd say ther were quite a few die hard south of the border too, not supporting that 2002 team , given the whole Saipan fiasco , sure ther was nearly another civil war here

here is the thread by the way, the original article by the Nordie is very funny

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=62482053

GavRedKing

I remember the game and my dad and grandad not being happy with the way it was going as it was a game, despite the political and social back drop, the team should have won, to an 8 year old I ddint see any of this so took it as we were the betetr team we should have won, looking back trying play in that atmosphere and under those conditions must have been some one of the toughest experiences imaginable for the players.

I vaguelty remember the Italia 90 penalty shoot out but this game is one of the first I can remember details about.

jack presley

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I don't think he actually was a bigot

There is a tendency amongst some ROI fans to lable any Nordie who does not want to see ROI progress as a bigot,while at the same time being ABNI themselves
Sure there are scumbags within the NI fan base that are bigots, but I don't think Bingham was a bigot.

He just wanted his team to win a very high profile game and was using the crowd to his advantage.
If a ROI manger did the same thing in a similar situation in Dublin would people brand him a bigot ?

Some of NIs most high profile players under Bingham were Catholic and I remember after that game reading that the majority of the NI team that night were Catholic.

There is a thread that appears here every so often about a NI journalist who says he will not support the ROI in the 2002 WC, the outrage against the guy here is laughable.

I think a lot of fans from the North were pi$$ed off at the "one team in Ireland, there's only one team in Ireland" chant from the Landsdowne game.

kfallon

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

There was so much happened that night. France failed to qualify with minutes remaining and Wales missed penalty also to send them through.

Poor Paul Bodin Wasn't there someone killed/seriously injured in the crowd in Cardiff Arms Park that night due to a flare hitting them.

Emile Kostadinov did the damage v France and it was the last time Ginola ever played for Les Blues!

It was a crazy, crazy night indeed.

ronjo

I used to go to a lot of the games then and was really pissed off we werent allowed go up there officially even though their fans were allowed to come to Dublin.

Got really drunk in my local that night and began planning our trip to America. Good times

keano_afc

The whole article is a brilliant read, so much happening on one night.

Agueroooo

I remember being ecstatic as I had provisionally booked my trip to USA'94 with The Submarine Bar and I finally knew we were going.

Liamalone

kona wrote: »

Nothing has changed. N.I football is still a horrible cesspit of muppets.

I took the wee man to the recent qualifier vs Portugal and was very dubious about it, thought I might have to cover his ears for the most of it from what I thought. It wasn't bad at all, the national anthem was the only thing that was dodgy as it had the no surrender line added.

I'm sure it still has it's moments but it's not as bad as folk think.

dd972

Watched the game in Waterford, good buzz afterwards, car horns blaring, remember reading in the paper the day before that the squad flew from Dublin to Belfast and thought that a bit odd even though it was naturally done for security reasons.

8-10

Other than our goal, the main thing I remember was when RTE switched to Spain v Denmark after the final whistle and what seemed like an eternity for that game to end. If Denmark scored, we were out. Nail-biting!

ronjo

8-10 wrote: »

Other than our goal, the main thing I remember was when RTE switched to Spain v Denmark after the final whistle and what seemed like an eternity for that game to end. If Denmark scored, we were out. Nail-biting!

I always remember Hamiltons commentary from that game. He was obviously doing our one but switched to commentating on the Spain game without a moments hesitation.

It was pretty impressive.

The_Kew_Tour

Liamalone wrote: »

I took the wee man to the recent qualifier vs Portugal and was very dubious about it, thought I might have to cover his ears for the most of it from what I thought. It wasn't bad at all, the national anthem was the only thing that was dodgy as it had the no surrender line added.

I'm sure it still has it's moments but it's not as bad as folk think.

Being honest they should not be getting tap on back for acting like ordinary human beings

rebelomar

I remember the build up to this vividly and all the hype even though I was only 9.

I watched the game on a poxy 12inch portable in my room as our Auntie was babysitting and she had zero interest in football.

I remember having such confidence in the Irish team at the time and thinking we could beat anybody. Even when the North went one up I knew we'd equalise.

Absolutely bonkers when you look back at the night. I could feel the intimidation through the tv screen and you knew this was no normal game.

The absolute joy when we equalised and when the Spain game finished was unbelievable. I danced around the bedroom. Irish games were huge events in those post Italia 90 days and it would be amazing if we could ever get back to such a level of public interest.

I went to Poland for the last Euros and the night before the Croatia game was simply epic but it still didn't compare to that night in Windsor for me. Watching USA 94 were easily the happiest days of my life thus far.

Liamalone

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Being honest they should not be getting tap on back for acting like ordinary human beings

Not patting then on the back, just passing on an observation as I was under the impression it might well be 90mins of lowlifes singing not so nice songs etc.

It wasn't.

iDave

Great thread. Love reading the memories, so many so similar to mine. Was 8 and again not fully understanding the political context, all I cared about was the result. Missed out on the Italia 90 party being too young so wanted my own memories. Harks back to a time when people didn't moan about the international breaks and our own team was generally loved instead of the modern day EPL fan boys indifference. I remember during that whole campaign all the talk on the bus to school the day after matches was how the Ireland team were doing.
As for NI, wasn't until I was older did I understand everything going on in the background. It was the Neil Lennon saga that made me opened my eyes to the sort of fan NI attracted. Could never bring myself to support that team.

major bill

I was one month off me 6th Birthday when this game took place and I still remember it, me older cousin was babysitting us that night and even though I wasn't drawn to the game i still realised it was a big occasion as me cousin spent more time shouting at the telly than he did at us, I remember the goal cos he went ballistic. When I look back I feel robbed of the fact I wasn't old enough to appreciate what will be considered the glory years of the Irish team, although McAteers goal against Holland prob gave me the same feeling as Mcloughlins for someone older but to think what the craic would have been like in a pub that night prob out does many ive had watching football....for my generation we defo missed out!!!

Idbatterim

my god, when you lake at the names come up on the electric board, the standard of player and amount of natural leaders, its something else!

tayto lover

Never liked Billy Bingham after that night.
Never want to see Northern Ireland winning either.

DaveyCakes

I was studying in Queen's. A crowd of us watched it in a living room with about 4 tvs piled on top of each other. The evening started with San Marino scoring after 6 seconds against England and went from there. We had the Ireland match on one screen, Wales v Romania on another. We ended up in the QUB staff bar, where we found a visiting Spanish lecturer and had him doing a flamenco dance on the table.

COYW

tayto lover wrote: »

Never liked Billy Bingham after that night.
Never want to see Northern Ireland winning either.

I think that was a bit of a turning point for RoI fans in relation to NI. Plenty of RoI fans would have shouted for NI when they were in major tournaments prior to that game but that stopped thereafter, as did NI's involvement in major tournaments.

It was a great shame for Billy Bingham, as he did a wonderful job with that team during his tenure from a footballing perspective. I'm guessing that a mixture of the atmosphere in NI coupled with his desire to go out one last triumph on the pitch led him to over react a bit. I do not agree with him being labelled as sectarian for one second; his sides were a fine mix of players from both communities.

People go on about the nastiness of the atmosphere that night but the game in Dublin was no tea-party either. Union jacks were burned out the back of the West stand.

I have a feeling that NI and the RoI will be drawn together in the next campaign, now that MON is in charge here. It would be very interesting to see how the games would go.

NIMAN

COYW wrote: »

I have a feeling that NI and the RoI will be drawn together in the next campaign, now that MON is in charge here. It would be very interesting to see how the games would go.

Well they certainly wouldn't be for the purist, thats for sure;)

briany

COYW wrote: »

I have a feeling that NI and the RoI will be drawn together in the next campaign, now that MON is in charge here. It would be very interesting to see how the games would go.

Well, I can't tell you what the score on the pitch would be, but the score in the stands would be 1-0 to peace, love and Christian unity. :cool:

COYW

briany wrote: »

Well, I can't tell you what the score on the pitch would be, but the score in the stands would be 1-0 to peace, love and Christian unity. :cool:

Amen to that, football banter all the way.

Agent Smith

Omackeral wrote: »

And we were the only team from the these islands (Ireland and Britain) to qualify for the World Cup. Mad stat that.

I remember Mcdonalds giving away worldcup footballs from like the next day with the england logo :pac:

clsmooth

Anyone remember the Euro 96 qualifier in Belfast where we won 4-0? (I think?) I remember Keane getting a tap in.

racso1975

I Cant watch the video as i am on a mobile but i remember it being said that the team were told if they scored to run around as much as possible and for no other people to join in the celebration in case it incensed the crowd and secondly there might be somebody with a gun. Actualy now that i write it it sounds like b0llix

golfball37

The Spanish sub keeper Canizares qualified us that night even moreso than Alan McLoughlin. A draw would have seen both Spain and Denmark through, so fair play to Spain for holding out with 10 men for the win.

A crazy night but an excellent goal by Jimmy Quinn it has to be said. Proof if ever needed that Sport and Politics should never be mixed. As was mentioned NI had more genuine Irish players than the ROI but that didn't matter to the fans in the stand.