Comments on: Irish players and crossing the Football Border http://backpagefootball.com/more-irish-players-cross-the-football-border/8499/ Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:24:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: wildIrishGuy http://backpagefootball.com/more-irish-players-cross-the-football-border/8499/comment-page-1/#comment-9785 wildIrishGuy Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:52:48 +0000 http://backpagefootball.com/?p=8499#comment-9785 Know that there are forty good reasons from both sides why they should not, but always does seem a shame it is not an all Ireland team like the Rugby, would be so much more powerful in competitions.

]]> By: Emmet Ryan http://backpagefootball.com/more-irish-players-cross-the-football-border/8499/comment-page-1/#comment-9784 Emmet Ryan Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:51:42 +0000 http://backpagefootball.com/?p=8499#comment-9784 The big issue with the Pat Jennings’ of this world is that while the Troubles were far worse in that era, attitudes towards the Northern Ireland Football team were far less sectarian (where those divides seemed to expressed almost exclusively at club level).

The difference was that as players of Lennon’s generation progressed, the sectarian issues became far more prevalent. Part of this was related to the Republic’s rise as a footballing force in the late 80s an early 90s and the corresponding decline in Northern Ireland’s fortunes over the same period.

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