Irish Soccer Facts & Information

The following are some interesting statistics, facts and information about the Republic of Ireland soccer team and Irish football in general.

Last All Irish-Born Republic of Ireland Football Team

The Republic of Ireland football team is renowned for embracing members of the Irish Diaspora to play for the country of their origins. Manchester-born full back Shay Brennan was the first non-Irish born player to be capped by the Republic of Ireland. His parents were born in Carlow. Former Chelsea star, John Dempsey, was another early example of a player qualifying for an Irish cap through his parentage.

During the Jack Charlton era, as Irish soccer manager, Ireland extensively used the Granny Rule and it was not unusual for as many as eight or nine of any given Republic of Ireland soccer team to have been born outside of Ireland. During this period great Irish soccer players and servants to the Republic's team such as Paul McGrath, David O'Leary, Andy Townsend, Ray Houghton, John Aldridge, and Tony Cascarino were all born outside Ireland.

The last soccer team to represent the Republic of Ireland where every player was born in Ireland was in 1975.

The Irish team selected to play Turkey in the 1976 European Championship qualifier at Dalymount Park on 29th October 1975 was as follows:

This match is notable for others reasons also. It was only the second match in which an Irish player scored four goals in an international soccer match. Don Givens scored all four of the Irish goals on 27 mins, 32 mins, 36 mins, and 88 mins. The only other Irish player to have achieved this feat was Paddy Moore against Belgium in 1934. Don Givens hat-trick of goals in the first half was scored in a ten minute spell - the fastest hat-trick ever for the Republic of Ireland. At the time the 4-0 score line also equalled the largest previous competitive victory by an Irish football team.

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.