“Sweet dreams are made of this, who am I to disagree” – Eurythmics.
Ahead of our Northern Ireland women’s team appearing at their first ever major tournament – the European Championships in England in July 2022, here’s some inspiration for the girls. Before I was even born, and 6 decades ago…Northern Ireland were European Schoolboy Champions in 1979. We won the thing. Smashed every team in sight! We were also British Champion holders in 1980, 1981 and 1984. We were in the top 12 in the world in 1982, were 10 minutes away from the top 8 at Euro 84 and we beat West Germany, Spain, Portugal, Romania and Sweden in the early 1980s. Some of those players were already champions for the youth team – the schoolboys. Here’s the story…
These boys are legends. At the tournament, we were placed in a group with West Germany, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. We won all three matches, scoring 9 goals, conceding just 3.
After topping our group, beating West Germany, Scotland and Republic of Ireland, we played Wales in the final. The tournament was held in England between the 30th of March and the 4th of April 1979.
|
Group-A |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
P |
||||||
|
WAL |
1 |
0 |
SUI |
1 |
Wales |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
|
|
WAL |
0 |
1 |
NED |
2 |
Switzerland |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
WAL |
2 |
1 |
ENG |
3 |
Netherland |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
|
|
SUI |
0 |
0 |
NED |
4 |
England |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
5 |
2 |
|
|
SUI |
1 |
0 |
ENG |
||||||||||
|
NED |
2 |
5 |
ENG |
||||||||||
|
Group-B |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
P |
||||||
|
NIR |
4 |
3 |
FRG |
1 |
N. Ireland |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
3 |
6 |
|
|
NIR |
1 |
0 |
SCO |
2 |
W.Germany |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
6 |
4 |
|
|
NIR |
4 |
0 |
ROI |
3 |
Scotland |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
|
|
FRG |
3 |
2 |
SCO |
4 |
Rep.Ireland |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
|
|
FRG |
1 |
0 |
ROI |
||||||||||
|
SCO |
4 |
0 |
ROI |
||||||||||
|
Seventh Place play-off |
|||||||||||||
|
ROI |
1 |
0 |
ENG |
||||||||||
|
Fifth Place play-off |
|||||||||||||
|
NED |
0 |
0 |
SCO |
[6-5 pens] |
|||||||||
|
Third Place play-off |
|||||||||||||
|
FRG |
4 |
0 |
SUI |
||||||||||
|
Final |
|||||||||||||
|
NIR |
2 |
1 |
WAL |
||||||||||
(L-R): Fred Robinson (Coach), Jim McDowell (Secretary), Thomas Mullen, Paul Murnin, Ian Russell (Manager), Garnett Cromie, Norman Whiteside, Michael Fegan, Dean Smyth, Norman Hayes, David Beattie, John Magowan, Alan McDonald, Colin Leighton, Sammy Troughton
Full results –
Wednesday 28th March 1979 (Stoke, England)
Northern Ireland 4 (Cromie 2, Leighton, Patterson (pen))
West Germany 3
Northern Ireland: Tom Mullan (Dundonald); Michael Fegan (Gransha, Bangor), David Patterson captain (Lurgan College), Alan McDonald (Rathcoole), Paul Murnin (De La Salle, Downpatrick), John Magowan (Larkfield), Norman Hayes (Ashfield), David Smyth (St Louis Grammar, Ballymena), Colin Leighton (Rathcoole), Garnet Cromie (Grosvenor High), Norman Whiteside (Cairnmartin) [Tony Murtagh (Lismore Comprehensive, Craigavon)]
