Northern_Ireland_national_football_B_team Knowpia

Northern Ireland B
Nickname(s)	Green & White Army, ; Norn Iron
Association	Irish Football Association
Head coach	none
Most caps	Pat McGibbon (5)
Top scorer	Derek Dougan (3)
Home stadium	Windsor Park / Mourneview Park / Coleraine Showgrounds
FIFA code	NIR
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Northern Ireland B 6–0 Romania B ; (Belfast, Northern Ireland; 23 October 1957)
Biggest win
	Northern Ireland B 6–0 Romania B ; (Belfast, Northern Ireland; 23 October 1957)
Biggest defeat
	France B 5–0 Northern Ireland B ; (Annecy, France; 16 March 1960)

The Northern Ireland national football B team is a secondary football team run occasionally as support for the Northern Ireland national football team. Primarily seen as a stepping-stone between the under-21 and full international teams, B team matches are also used to give a run-out for fringe players and to honour Irish League players who would not otherwise gain international recognition.

Matches are rarely played by Northern Ireland at this level due to their limited player pool, necessitating rapid elevation of young players to the 'Full' squad. Matches have been played against other football associations' 'B' teams and against various national "selects".

History edit

The Northern Ireland 'B' team made its first appearance in 1957, playing against Romania 'B' who were not deemed worthy of a 'Full' international (note: Romania was commonly referred to as Rumania in the English language up until the 1980s). The occasion of October 23, 1957 marked the first use of the Windsor Park floodlights for an international fixture. A one sided match finished 6-0 with a hat-trick from Derek Dougan and further goals from Sammy McCrory, Sammy Chapman and Jackie Scott.

The match against Rumania was followed up with two matches against France B in 1959 and 1960 before Under-23 international matches became de rigueur in the 1960s. The 'B' format re-emerged in the 1990s as national teams focussed on Under-21 rather than Under-23 matches and thus a "stepping stone" from Under-21 to 'Full' was required.

Northern Ireland's most recent match at 'B' level was against Scotland B in May 2009.

Fixtures edit

None

Previous matches edit

Performance Record:

P	W	D	L	F	A	Gd
11	4	1	6	16	19	-3

Date	Opponent	Score	Venue	Scorers
23 October 1957	Romania B	6-0	Windsor Park, Belfast	Sammy McCrory, Sammy Chapman, Derek Dougan 3, Jackie Scott
11 November 1959	France B	1-1	Windsor Park, Belfast	Hugh Barr
16 March 1960	France B	0-5	Stade du Coteau, Annecy
10 May 1994	England B	2-4	Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield	George O'Boyle, James Quinn
21 February 1995	Scotland B	0-3	Easter Road, Edinburgh
26 March 1996	Norway Olympic football team	3-0	The Showgrounds, Coleraine	Darren Patterson, James Quinn, Phil Mulryne
28 March 1997	Portugal under-21	2-0	Mourneview Park, Lurgan	Danny Sonner, Steve Robinson
11 February 1998	Republic of Ireland B	1-0	Tolka Park, Dublin	George O'Boyle
9 February 1999	Wales B	0-1	The Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
20 May 2003	Scotland Future	1-2	Firhill Stadium, Glasgow	Steve Jones
6 May 2009	Scotland B	0-3	Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld