A special history
The storied rivalry between Ireland and England makes Nations League reunion worth savouring
WEMBLEY. March, 1991.
Bobby Moore is sitting in the front row of the press box, about to co-commentate for radio on the England versus Republic of Ireland Euro qualifier, when he spies a fan approaching from below, programme outstretched for signing.
Moore, a gent as well as one of England’s all-time greats, readies himself to shake hands and to do the needful.
Only the fan says to Bobby, ‘Excuse me. Would you mind passing the programme to the fellow behind you to sign?’
The ‘fellow behind’ was none other than Con Houlihan, the legendary Irish writer and author, who was covering the game for The Evening Press.
Moore leaned backwards to give Con the programme and then passed it back dutifully.
If the fan knew who Moore was, he didn’t let on. But it didn’t matter. For him, Con was king.
The Republic of Ireland versus England. This is a fixture with a long and varied history. A fixture with a multitude of stories and intriguing narratives. Ireland versus England. It has a special ring to it.
And it has to be Wembley for the Nations League finale in November. Nowhere else. If the FA move the fixture out of London’s iconic stadium, there will be ructions.
It’s the fixture every Irish supporter, from Kimmage to Kilburn, Clondalkin to Cricklewood, yearns for more than any other when the various draws, or tournament finals, come around — of the latter, we’ve been in two of the last 11.
That England should slip into the second tier of the Nations League B was something few saw coming; to be drawn against them is a bonus as they are odds-on to be back in League A in 2026.
Twice inside a 10-week span, the teams will meet in competition, first in Dublin on September 7 and again on November 17.
It’s the quickest turnaround since 1957 when a brace of World Cup qualifiers between the teams were played on May 8 at Wembley and May 17 in Dalymount Park.
For anyone with a passion for the international team, this fixture is as big as it gets. As a schoolboy, I recall being at the 1-1 draw in Lansdowne Road in 1978, also in the Euros.
Our tickets were for the old terraced enclosures in front of the East Stand where we saw Gerry Daly’s equaliser. It was greeted as if it was a World Cup winner.
There was Euro ’88 where, to my eternal shame, I chose not to go as a supporter, but instead provided a ‘vox pop’ for The Irish Independent.
While the piece was published, I’d much rather have offered something from the streets of Stuttgart and gone on the lash afterwards instead.
In 1990, it rained cats and dogs in Cagliari when the teams met in the World Cup. A drab duel was dictated by the weather with errors leading to both goals.
After Kevin Sheedy did a number on Steve McMahon for a late leveller, I recall grabbing a few words with him in the melee around the Irish dressing room.
If ‘My Left Foot’ appeared once in a headline the next day, as it did in the Evening Herald, it appeared dozens of times.
When the teams met at Lansdowne Road later that year in the Euros, the pitch was awful and a gale blew straight down from Havelock Square. It was a brutal watch.
Ireland were caught on a counter with David Platt running 50 yards to get a vital touch at the far post but Tony Cascarino’s towering header rescued a deserved point.
The return at Wembley was a truly special day.
First, the Irish press XI whipped England’s finest scribblers at Kenilworth Road. Trevor Brooking guested for England but we didn’t give him a sniff.
That night, on a pitch that allowed players express themselves, Ireland played England off the park. It finished 1-1 but 4-1 would not have flattered the boys in green.
Ray Houghton has often re-told the tale of Jack Charlton’s fury after he missed a sitter late on to win the game.
Charlton stormed into the Irish dressing room screaming for Houghton’s head before eventually cornering him in the players’ bar where he let rip a volley of industrial language.
‘Are you going to let him speak to you like that?’ asked Brenda, Ray’s wife. ‘After the way I messed up that chance, he can speak to me any way he likes,’ said Houghton.
Charlton was still at the helm in 1995 for a friendly that turned nasty as riots erupted, prompted by right-wing extremists who had docked in Dublin looking for a scrap. That a number were stationed in the upper tier of the West Stand with high ground to defend and a ready-made supply of wood and nails as ammo, was staggering.
The game was abandoned before the half hour with Ireland leading 1-0 thanks to David Kelly’s well-taken goal.
With relations between the FAI and the FA cool for a bit, there was an 18-year gap before the next fixture, a friendly at Wembley that passed off without incident — Shane Long headed home a pearler in a 1-1 draw.
The Dublin return in 2015, was a tribute, and farewell, to Charlton but as a game, it was a non-event. As for the 2020 friendly in Wembley, Ireland didn’t turn up in spite of Stephen Kenny’s dressing-room rhetoric.
The 2024 reunions will carry the edge of competition, and the weight of a historic rivalry that pre-dates the FAI and the FA by several centuries.
It’s 75 years since Jackie Carey led Ireland to a famous 2-0 win over England at Goodison Park. What odds a fitting anniversary celebration?