Ireland's Dual Internationals :

Players that have Played for the Two Irish National Teams

A number of players have been dual internationals - capped by two separate countries - down through the years. On of the most famous was Alfredo Di Stefano who was capped six times by Argentina during 1947 and then went on to play for Spain on 31 occasions from 1957 to 1961.

Ireland's Partition Leads to Irish Dual Internationals

At least 37 Irish players have represented two national football teams. Of those 37 players, 36 played for Northern Ireland and one played for England. Up until June 1921 a single football team represented the island of Ireland. However following political partition Ireland was plunged into a bitter civil war.

The 1921 Irish cup final between Glentoran and Shelbourne had ended in a draw in Belfast. Convention meant that the replay should take place in Dublin but the Belfast-based IFA ruled that it would be safer to have the replay in Shelbourne because of the fighting in Dublin. Shels refused to replay in Belfast and within a year the clubs in the 26 counties had formed their own breakaway Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

This gave rise to a period when players could play for both Irish teams - and they did. Indeed there were occasions when a players played against the same opposition for both 'Irelands' within days of each other. Also some players, including Con Martin - father of Mick Martin, played for both in the same World Cup qualification tournament.

In the early 1950's FIFA moved to regularise this by ruling that players could only represent the team of their political origins. FIFA also ruled that the FAI team would be known as the Republic of Ireland and the IFA's team would be known as Northern Ireland.

Englishman John Reynolds Plays for Ireland

In the early 1890's, when there was a united Irish football team, John Reynolds won five caps for Ireland including a 9-1 defeat to England in which he scored the only Irish goal. Reynolds had been raised in County Antrim but had actually been born in Blackburn in England.

Following clarification of the matter Reynolds went on to play for England eight times scoring three goals. Leaving own goals aside, this gives John Reynolds the distinction of being the only player to score against, and for, the English national football team.

Of course many English-born players have played for Ireland through the Granny Rule, but John Reynolds remains the only player to represent the Irish and English senior international football teams.





Irish Players that have Played for Two Different International Teams

The following Irish footballers have played for two senior international football teams. The table outlines the number of caps won for each jurisdiction and the number of goals scored.

Footballer Total Caps Country Caps Goals Country Caps Goals Johnny Carey 36 Ireland 29 (1937-1952) 3 Northern Ireland 7 (1947-1949) 0 Con Martin 36 Ireland 30 (1946-1956) 5 Northern Ireland 6 (1947-1950) 0 Peter Farrell 35 Ireland 28 (1946-1957) 5 Northern Ireland 7 (1946-1949) 0 Thomas Eglington 30 Ireland 24 (1946-1955) 2 Northern Ireland 6 (1946-1948) 0 Davy Walsh 29 Ireland 20 (1946-1953) 5 Northern Ireland 9 (1947-1950) 0 Billy Lacey 26 Ireland 3 (1927-1930) 1 Northern Ireland 23 (1909-1924) 3 Alex Stevenson 24 Ireland 7 (1932-1948) 0 Northern Ireland 17 (1934-1948) 5 Jimmy Dunne 22 Ireland 15 (1930-1939) 13 Northern Ireland 7 (1928-1932) 4 Thomas Aherne 20 Ireland 16 (1946-1953) 0 Northern Ireland 4 (1947-1950) 0 Jackie Vernon 19 Ireland 17 (1946-1951) 0 Northern Ireland 2 (1946) 0 Bill Gorman 17 Ireland 13 (1936-1947) 0 Northern Ireland 4 (1947-1948) 0 Reg Ryan 17 Ireland 16 (1949-1955) 3 Northern Ireland 1 (1950) 0 Jimmy Kelly 15 Ireland 4 (1932-1936) 2 Northern Ireland 11 (1931-1936) 4 Tommy Breen 14 Ireland 5 (1937-1945) 0 Northern Ireland 9 (1935-1939) 0 Mick O'Brien 14 Ireland 4 (1927-1932) 0 Northern Ireland 10 (1921-1927) 0 Willie Walsh 14 Ireland 9 (1946-1950) 0 Northern Ireland 5 (1948-1949) 0 Harry Duggan 13 Ireland 5 (1927-1937) 1 Northern Ireland 8 (1929-1935) 0 John Reynolds 13 Ireland 5 (1890-1891) 1 England 8 (1892-1897) 3 Jackie Brown 12 Ireland 2 (1937) 1 Northern Ireland 10 (1935-1939) 1 Patsy Gallagher 12 Ireland 1 (1931) 0 Northern Ireland 11 (1919-1927) 0 Tom Faquharson 11 Ireland 4 (1929-1931) 0 Northern Ireland 7 (1923-1925) 0 Paddy Moore 10 Ireland 9 (1931-1936) 7 Northern Ireland 1 (1932) 0 Denis Hannon 8 Ireland 2 (1924) 0 Northern Ireland 6 (1908-1913) 1 Matt O'Mahoney 7 Ireland 6 (1938-1939) 0 Northern Ireland 1 (1938) 0 Harry Chatton 6 Ireland 3 (1924-1925) 0 Northern Ireland 3 (1931-1934) 0 Billy Hayes 6 Ireland 2 (1946-1947) 0 Northern Ireland 4 (1938) 0 Jimmy McAlinden 6 Ireland 2 (1946) 0 Northern Ireland 4 (1937-1948) 0 Jackie O'Driscoll 6 Ireland 3 (1948-1949) 0 Northern Ireland 3 (1948-1949) 0 Tom Davis 5 Ireland 4 (1936-1938) 4 Northern Ireland 1 (1936) 1 Rory Keane 5 Ireland 4 (1949-1949) 0 Northern Ireland 1 (1948) 0 Ned Weir 4 Ireland 3 (1939) 0 Northern Ireland 1 (1939) 0 Paddy Farrell 3 Ireland 2 (1937) 0 Northern Ireland 1 (1938) 0 Peter Kavanagh 3 Ireland 2 (1931) 0 Northern Ireland 1 (1929) 0 Josuah Sloan 3 Ireland 2 (1946) 0 Northern Ireland 1 (1947) 0 Frank Collins 2 Ireland 1(1927) 0 Northern Ireland 1 (1922) 0 Owen Madden 2 Ireland 1 (1936) 0 Northern Ireland 1 (1937) 0 Christy Martin 2 Ireland 1 (1927) 0 Northern Ireland 1 (1925) 0

There are plenty more such soccer facts and statistics but if you have any gems that you think should be included or if you have any corrections please contact Soccer Ireland today.