The Northern Irish national team is regulated by the Irish Football Association. It is a member of the European federation UEFA. In the FIFA rankings, Northern Ireland is ranked 49th as at February 2009, with an all-time range extending between the 27th and 124th position. They are one of four teams in the United Kingdom, and used to contest the British Home Championship. The team won this competition eight times, and was the last winner of the competition in its last edition in 1984. Hence, in theory they remain the British Champions and the trophy is still held by the Irish FA. Northern Ireland's first competitive game was played on the 18th February 1882 against England, and they lost 13-0, which remains Northern Ireland's biggest defeat. On a more positive note, their biggest win was 7-0 against Wales.
Northern Ireland has participated in the World Cup 3 times, with the first one being the 1958 event held in Sweden. On this occasion, Northern Ireland reached the quarter finals, and it did the same on its second participation which came in 1982 when the world tournament was hosted by Spain. However, Northern Ireland did not go past the group stage on their third World Cup try in Mexico 1986. Ever since then, the national team has not featured in a World Cup, and they are looking to change this for the 2010 South Africa event. Apart from this, Northern Ireland has yet to participate in a European Championship, missing out on all European tournament finals. Northern Irish coach Nigel Worthington is the head coach of his home nation. 119-capped Pat Jennings holds the record of the biggest number of caps, while David Healy is the all-time top goalscorer with 35 goals. The arena used for home matches is 20332-seater Windsor Park.
The soccer jerseys of the Northern Irish national football team are manufactured by English brand Umbro. Green is the main colour used for both the home uniform and the away uniform. The home uniform consists of an all-green jersey, white shorts and green socks. The away uniform comprises of a white jersey with green stripes, green shorts and green socks.
Here is the archive of all Northern Ireland soccer jersey articles:
If you are looking for more information on Northern Ireland check out their website, their wikipeida listing or other sites available on Open Directory.
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