Despite never playing club football together, Danny and Jackie Blanchflower’s storied careers would make a lasting impression in Britain
Tag: northern ireland
A last bastion of peace on the turf and goodwill to linesmen, the glory days of festive football are alive and well in the Steel and Sons Cup final
The time may not be right to unite Ireland’s football teams, but 106 years on from their last tournament triumph, it provides something to think about
In a sport more detached from local communities than ever, the work of Jackie Maxwell at St Oliver Plunkett in Northern Ireland serves as a timeless lesson
There’s nothing special about the grave of Liverpool’s greatest goalkeeper. Nothing glamorous about the sullen tombstone or the weeds that threaten to overrun the plot. It does the job without fuss or…
“I often tell people I have the best job in the world.” Justin McMinn has every reason to be boastful. In the course of an interview with These Football Times, however, the founder of Street…
In what many believe may never happen again, the 1958 World Cup was unique for featuring England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
WHEN BLAINE MCKENNA saw a potential Football League career slip away shortly before taking his GCSEs, it would have been so easy for the then-teenager to wind up as just another statistic…
Few who have witnessed Jeffrey’s titanic impact on the Northern Irish game would bet against him securing his 32nd domestic trophy in short order
FOOTBALL DOESN’T CARE WHERE YOU’VE COME FROM. It doesn’t care how hard you’ve worked, or how much you deserve a break. It’s a brutal business, unsuited to the weak of spirit and brittle…
Illustration by Federico Manasse Born in the working-class inner city of East Belfast, it was seemingly inevitable George Best would swiftly fall in love with the beautiful game. Childhood images show the…
ON 15 APRIL 1964, two Northern Irish legends made their national team debuts. One was a supremely talented footballer, who many believed was the best player in his position during the 1970s.…
THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE UNDERDOG, fighting against the odds, punching above their weight and instilling hope in a nation which has often been in desperate need of some. Northern Ireland’s appearance…
The boy has wisdom beyond his years. “You learn more about yourself in the tough times than you do in the good times,” says James McClean. Less a boy now at 27-years-old,…
The average attendance at League of Ireland matches in 2014 was just 1,559. In the same year, 120,000 Irish fans travelled to attend Premier League games, accounting for 15 per cent of overseas…
When George Best played for Second Division Fulham during a short spell in the mid 1970s, he undoubtedly cut a conflicting figure to the slight, jinking winger English fans had known during his…
This feature is part of A Tale of One City Even though a meeting between the ‘Big Two’ in Northern Ireland was always a hotly-contested affair, this one had even more of an…
This feature is part of The Fleeting Fraternity NORMAN WHITESIDE never shied away from the big occasion. At 16 he became the youngest player to ever step out for Manchester United, while at…