Northern Ireland Football Internationals Born Abroad

Northern Ireland Football Internationals Born Abroad - Kingsley Black

I tried to add this one to Wikipedia but it was rejected as they didn’t believe me – Wikipedia are stuck up in their own ego thinking they know better than everyone else. They don’t – my posts were 100% correct so I’ll post it here instead and this means this page has more authority and honesty than “Dick”ipedia. This is a list of Northern Ireland international footballers who have represented Northern Ireland/Ireland (the 1880 original Ireland) at full level but were born outside Northern Ireland. B internationals, under 21s etc. are not counted. I also haven’t updated those born in the Republic of Ireland, as there are way too many of them.

This list is incomplete, but I will gradually get it updated. England is perhaps not surprisingly the country that has provided the most Northern Ireland internationals born abroad. English born players have also represented Wales, Republic of Ireland and Scotland to name but a few.

Also in 1998, Dele Adebola (born in Nigeria) was included in the Northern Ireland squad to face Slovakia at Windsor Park. Adebola was included in the squad and was also in the match programme, though he never played for Northern Ireland.

Note: A total of 124 players’ birthplaces remain untraced at this time, the majority from the earliest days of the Ireland national team. It is possible that a small number of these will have been born outside of (Northern) Ireland.

By Jonny Blair

Jonny Blair is a Northern Irish travel writer, football geek, perpetual tourist and long term blogger. Jonny grew up in Northern Ireland but his global adventures have seen him live in Australia, Uruguay, England, Kyrgyzstan, Poland and Hong Kong. With 30 years writing experience, Jonny is a veteran writer with a taste for the unusual and quirky. Jonny's 150 country journey around the world saw him feed hyenas in Ethiopia, play football in Afghanistan, hitch-hike in Iraq and visit disputed regions unrecognised by the UN. Jonny is usually based in Poland but is never far away from another adventure and runs travel blogs in several niches.