The history of football in Ireland reflects the socio-politics of the island more than perhaps any other geography in the world. The next paragraph is a very abridged version of why Ireland was divided, and then we’ll look at how football fits into that story.
After centuries of foreign rule from Westminster, during which settlers, largely from England and Scotland, redrew the demographic, economic and religious makeup of Ireland, particularly in the north, nationalist uprisings and the push for Home Rule resulted in the division of the island in 1921. Six counties in the north with a Protestant majority became Northern Ireland and remained in the United Kingdom, while the other 26 counties formed the new, independent Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland).
Following partition, while the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)-administered sports (hurling, Gaelic football, camogie, rounders and handball), and cricket and rugby continued to be played on an all-island basis, Association football (or soccer, to distinguish it from the Gaelic code) split along political lines.
But why? Let’s go back to the beginning…
A brief history of pre-partition Ireland
Soccer was first demonstrated in then-united Ireland in the 1870s and, thanks largely to the driving force of the ‘father of Irish football’, John McCredy McAlery, the Irish Football Association (IFA) was founded in Belfast in 1880. McAlery also spearheaded the creation of the first Irish national side, which started with a disastrous 13-0 reverse to England in their debut match in 1882.
The Belfast-based IFA oversaw the nascent sport’s cup and league competition, and Dublin, the administrative capital of Ireland, caught on soon after, with clubs such as Freebooters and Dublin University emerging in the 1880s. Three of the city’s oldest existing clubs, Bohemians (1890), Shelbourne (1895) and Shamrock Rovers (1899) followed later. It was in this decade that the Leinster Football Association was formed to represent the interests of the Dublin clubs.
Belfast continued to dominate football in both the Irish League and the Irish Cup; only Shelbourne (three times) and Bohemians (once) took the Irish Cup back to Dublin before partition. The IFA also selected a far higher proportion of Ulster-based players to represent Ireland, and Dublin was chosen to host just six international matches, with Belfast staging 48 between Ireland’s first match in 1880 and partition 40 years later.
There was already a groundswell of tension between the clubs and administrators in Dublin even before the build-up to the Irish War of Independence.
The split
Ireland finished the 1913/14 season stronger than ever, winning the country’s first-ever British Home Championship outright. However, the backdrop of the Home Rule bill of 1912 and the outbreak of war on the continent in 1914 postponed all-out war on the island of Ireland, as nationalists and unionists made irreconcilable demands on Westminster.
Tensions surfaced at football matches, for example, when Ireland played Scotland at Dalymount Park, Dublin, in 1913, where a mob smashed the clubhouse windows. Or when the Catholic side, Belfast Celtic, met the Protestant Linfield. Workers could access rivets and bolts from the shipyards and use them as ammunition, which became known as ‘Belfast confetti’. A gun was pulled at one point, which gave rise to another term, ‘revolver music’.
During World War I, unlike in Britain, Irishmen were not subject to conscription. Still, many volunteered, even from predominantly nationalist areas, in the hope that their loyalty would be rewarded by Westminster after the conflict. The Easter Uprising of 1916 proved a catalyst for the independence cause, and after the armistice, the British army's theatre of war shifted to Ireland.
Footballing relations remained strained between Dublin and Belfast during the Irish War of Independence (1919-21). Both cities were under curfew. Shelbourne travelled to play Glenavon in Lurgan (Ulster) in the Irish Cup semi-final of 1920/21 and came away with a draw. Normally, Shels would have hosted the replay, but the IFA demanded the Reds return to Lurgan to play again. Shelbourne refused, jeopardising their defence of the cup, and were thrown out of the tournament.
For the members of the Leinster FA, this proved a Belfast bias at the IFA, and they believed they could run their own affairs. The Dublin clubs represented in the Irish League - Shels, Bohs and St. James’s Gate - all withdrew from the IFA’s competition. And, just as the Anglo-Irish Treaty signalled a division of the island, so on 1 June 1921, members of the Leinster FA and other clubs in the south met at Molesworth Hall in Dublin to establish the Cumann Peile na hÉirean (FAI - the Football Association of Ireland).
Not only would there now be a new league and cup competition for the Irish Free State, but there were also now two international sides. It took some time for the FAI side to gain recognition from FIFA, especially with opposition from the British FAs, who supported the IFA, but the Irish Free State debuted on the global stage at the Paris Olympics in 1924. It was also the first outing on the international stage for the Irish Tricolour.
Legacy of the split
Both the FAI and IFA sides referred to themselves as ‘Ireland’ until FIFA settled the dispute in 1953. More than 40 players turned out for both national sides, often controversially, before national qualification rules were also resolved with FIFA in the 1950s.
The IFA side, Northern Ireland, enjoyed great success in the 1980s, attending back-to-back World Cups in Spain and Mexico, and winning the final British Home Championship in 1984. The trophy is the oldest in international football and resides permanently at Windsor Park.
Under Jack Charlton, the FAI side (Republic of Ireland) enjoyed successful tournaments at Euro ’88 and Italia ’90, where the Boys in Green reached the quarter-finals. The two Irish sides met in a fractious qualifier in Belfast for USA ’94, where a dramatic late equaliser saw the Republic make it to the US.
Politics is never far from Irish soccer; in 2016, the FAI was fined €4,699 by FIFA for including a reference to the centenary of the Easter Uprising on a commemorative shirt, deemed by FIFA as a breach of its rules against displaying political symbols.
Deep into the 21st century, there is still talk of recreating a single national side, something George Best advocated, but many obstacles remain, politically and administratively, before that can happen.
If you’re interested in discovering Irish football, please read my book, Shades of Green: A Journey into Irish Football.
Really interesting piece! Respect all opinions on this ... for what it's worth, I've always been inclined to agree with George Best. Just a pity that he and Roy Keane didn't play in the same era, in a united team! I mentioned football in a piece I got published in the Irish post a couple of years ago: "The 1990s peace process changed the climate. England didn’t qualify for the 1994 World Cup but Ireland did, coached by an English winner from 1966. The English drank Guinness that summer and backed Ireland, a team made up of many Anglo-Irishmen like me."
(If anyone's interested: https://www.irishpost.com/comment/a-conflicted-brit-restores-his-irish-soul-237674)
The idea of getting pelted with bolts and rivets while playing is frightening.