Northern Ireland national under-23 football team

National U-23 association football team

Northern Ireland Under-23Nickname(s)| Green & White Army, Norn Iron

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Association| Irish Football Association
Head coach| Ronnie McFall
Home stadium| Various

First colours

Second colours

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The Northern Ireland national under-23 football team is an association football team representing Northern Ireland featuring footballers playing in the Irish League. The team first played at this level in 2007 when entering the International Challenge Trophy for national semi-professional Under-23 sides, though previously the Northern Ireland Under-23 team offered a recognised stepping stone for all young players hoping to progress to the full Northern Ireland side.

## The Original Under-23s

[edit]

The original Northern Ireland Under-23 side played a total of ten matches, all but three in the 1960s.[1] Players to have stepped up from the Under-23 side to full international level include Pat Jennings, Bryan Hamilton, Neil Lennon and Sammy Clingan.

### Results

[edit]

Date  | Opponent  | Venue  | Result  | Scorers

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07-02-1962  | Wales | Windsor Park, Belfast | Drew 0–0  |
27-02-1963  | Wales | Vetch Field, Swansea | Lost 1–5  | Jimmy McLaughlin
05-02-1964  | Wales | Windsor Park, Belfast | Drew 3–3  | Willie Irvine (2), Jimmy McLaughlin
10-02-1965  | Wales | Ninian Park, Cardiff | Drew 2–2  | Willie Irvine, Dave Clements
22-02-1967  | Wales | Windsor Park, Belfast | Won 2–1  | Vic McKinney (2)
20-03-1968  | Wales | Vetch Field, Swansea | Won 1–0  | Shaun Dunlop
26-03-1969  | Italy | Communale Stadium, Brescia | Lost 1–2  | Brendan Mullan
11-04-1989  | Republic of Ireland | Dalymount Park, Dublin | Lost 0–3  |
15-05-1990  | Republic of Ireland | Shamrock Park, Portadown | Lost 2–3  | Stephen McBride, John Devine
27-04-2004  | Serbia & Montenegro | Mourneview Park, Lurgan | Drew 0–0  | (billed an Under 21–23 team)[2]

## The New Under-23s

[edit]

The Irish FA announced on 2 October 2007 that they would be entering a side in the International Challenge Trophy.[3] The team was selected only from players playing in the IFA Premiership and as such it is also a successor to the Irish League representative team. For the 2007–09 International Challenge Trophy the team was managed by Linfield's David Jeffrey and for the 2009-11 International Challenge Trophy by Portadown's Ronnie McFall. On both occasions Northern Ireland failed to make it beyond the group stage, and have not entered a team since.

### 2007–09 International Challenge Trophy

[edit]

11 December 2007

Belgium U-23| 2–1|  Northern Ireland U-23

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58 Hubert
85 Lutun | (Report) | 46 Peter Thompson

Stade Luc Varenne, Tournai, Belgium

* * *

13 May 2008

Northern Ireland U-23| 0–1|  Republic of Ireland U-23

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| (Report) | 88 Stephen Rice

Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland

Referee: Adrian McCourt (Northern Ireland)

* * *

18 November 2008

Slovakia U-23| 1–0|  Northern Ireland U-23

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10 Skutka | (Report) |

Senec, Slovakia

### 2009–11 International Challenge Trophy

[edit]

24 November 2009

Northern Ireland U-23| 2–2|  Wales Semi Pro

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Jay Magee
Daryl Fordyce | (Report) |

Shamrock Park, Portadown, Northern Ireland

* * *

11 August 2010

Northern Ireland U-23| 2–0|  Poland U-23

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Jordan Owens
Martin Donnelly | (Report) |

The Showgrounds, Coleraine, Northern Ireland

* * *

12 October 2010

Portugal U-23| 2–0|  Northern Ireland U-23

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| (Report) |

Municipal Stadium, Cartaxo, Portugal

## Squad

[edit]

Squad for the match against Portugal, 12 October 2010.[4] Clubs correct at time of call-up.

No. | Pos. | Player  | Date of birth (age)  | Caps  | Goals  | Club

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| 1GK | Chris Keenan  |  (1987-01-27) 27 January 1987 (age 38) |  |  |  Crusaders
| 1GK | Sean O'Neill |  (1988-04-11) 11 April 1988 (age 37) |  |  |  Dungannon Swifts
| 2DF | Chris Ramsey  |  (1990-05-24) 24 May 1990 (age 34) |  |  |  Portadown
| 3MF | Billy Joe Burns  |  (1989-08-24) 24 August 1989 (age 35) |  |  |  Linfield
| 2DF | Johnny Taylor  |  (1988-06-30) 30 June 1988 (age 36) |  |  |  Glentoran
| 2DF | Jay Magee  |  (1988-05-04) 4 May 1988 (age 37) |  | 1  |  Glenavon
| 2DF | Ross Redman  |  (1989-11-23) 23 November 1989 (age 35) |  |  |  Portadown
| 2DF | Archie Stewart  |  (1989-12-03) 3 December 1989 (age 35) |  |  |  Ballymena United
| 3MF | Philip Lowry  |  (1989-07-15) 15 July 1989 (age 35) |  |  |  Linfield
| 3MF | Robert Garrett |  (1988-05-05) 5 May 1988 (age 37) |  |  |  Linfield
| 3MF | Jamie Mulgrew |  (1986-05-06) 6 May 1986 (age 39) |  |  |  Linfield
| 3MF | Stuart Dallas |  (1991-04-19) 19 April 1991 (age 34) |  |  |  Crusaders
| 3MF | Martin Donnelly |  (1988-08-28) 28 August 1988 (age 36) |  | 1  |  Crusaders
| 3MF | Michael Carvill |  (1988-04-03) 3 April 1988 (age 37) |  |  |  Linfield
| 4FW | Daryl Fordyce |  (1987-01-02) 2 January 1987 (age 38) |  | 1  |  Glentoran
| 4FW | Curtis Allen  |  (1988-02-22) 22 February 1988 (age 37) |  |  |  Linfield
| 4FW | Jordan Owens |  (1989-07-09) 9 July 1989 (age 35) |  | 1  |  Crusaders
| 4FW | Darren Boyce  |  (1986-01-25) 25 January 1986 (age 39) |  |  |  Coleraine

## Competitive record

[edit]

### International Challenge Trophy

[edit]

* 2009 \- Group Stage
* 2011 \- Group Stage

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "List of Northern Ireland Under-23 Players and fixtures", 14 May 2008
2. ^ Official Match Programme
3. ^ "NI to compete for U23 silverware ", 14 May 2008
4. ^ "U23 SQUAD ANNOUNCED", 18 December 2011

## External links

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* Irish FA Website

* v
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Northern Ireland national football team

General|

* Irish Football Association
* Ireland national football team (1882–1950)
* Managers

Venues|

* Windsor Park
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Results|

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Statistics|

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Players|

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Goals|

* David Healy

World Finals|

* Summary
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European Finals|

* Summary
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Other tournaments|

* British Home Championship (1884-1984)
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Culture|

* Green and White Army
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Other teams|

* Women's
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National men's under-23 football teams of Europe (UEFA)

* Albania
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* Former nations:
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International Challenge Trophy

Tournaments|

* 2005–06
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Participants|

* England C
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* Republic of Ireland U-23
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Association football in Northern Ireland

Irish Football Association \- Northern Ireland Women's Football Association

National teams|

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Leagues|

| Men|

* NIFL Premiership
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* Northern Amateur Football League
* NIFL Premiership Development League

|

Women|

* Women's Premiership
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Domestic cups|

| Men|

* Irish Cup
* NI Football League Cup
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* Mid-Ulster Cup
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* Steel & Sons Cup
* Bob Radcliffe Cup
* Craig Memorial Cup

|

Women|

* IFA Women's Challenge Cup
* NIFL Women's Premiership League Cup
* All-Island Cup

Defunct leagues|

* Irish Intermediate League
* IFA Interim Intermediate League
* Northern Ireland Intermediate League

Defunct cups|

* Gold Cup
* Ulster Cup
* City Cup
* Floodlit Cup
* Carlsberg Cup
* Top Four Cup
* Belfast Charity Cup
* Alhambra Cup
* Fermanagh & Western Intermediate Cup
* McElroy Cup
* Setanta Sports Cup
* Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup
* North-South Cup
* Blaxnit Cup
* Texaco Cup
* Tyler Cup
* Irish News Cup
* Champions Cup
* George Wilson Cup

Awards|

* Ulster Footballer of the Year
* Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Player of the Year

* Sunday football in Northern Ireland
* List of clubs
* List of grounds
* Records

* v
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National sports teams of Northern Ireland

Men|

* Cricket
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Women|

* Football
* U19
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* Netball
* Volleyball

Multi-sport events|

* Commonwealth Games

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