I had a feeling those would be the respective opinions of both associations - all for it down south and totally against it up north. I'd love to see this rule come in cos I imagine it would benefit the Republic much more than it would suit the North. But I would be very sympathetic towards the North on this one and would be very surprised to see this rule ratified.
What i don't understand is, in the North you can have either an Irish or British Passport, surely if he has an Irish Passport he has declared himself Irish and is eligible to play for Ireland. IFA should let this go as he doesn't want to play for Northern Ireland
The Times had a very good article about this, this morning. It points the finger at the IFA for using double standards in thier argument. Basically saying that NI can under present regulations pick any player who qualifies as a British citizen be they English, Welsh, or Scotish and they have done in the past, most notabily under Lawerie McMenemy. Only a gentlemans agreement between the 'home nations' prevents this at the moment. Surely we have to look at the bigger picture, with qualifying groups so large and managers including Rafa frustrated with 2 or 3 international breaks a season, there simply must be a case for reducing the number of teams currently competing in Europe. Ireland should be forced to compete as one nation as should Britan. Out sould go the nonsense of allowing Andora, Faroes, San Marino etc... to compete. A rule should be made allowing the participation of ONLY soverign nations. This would end this petty squable between ouselves and the six counties and reduce the amount of fixtures having to be played every year.
Problem being is that ireland is not a soverign nation and i'm pretty the Scots would claim soverignty if it came it.
Considering the chances are that any player from the north has at least one southern relation that would qualify them I dont see what the big deal is. People have said for a long time that there should be just one Ireland team similar to rugby, for a country our size having 2 national teams is a bit of a joke.
This guy Gibson has no relations from the south thats why he is a 'test case'.I agree most would have family in the south but the IFA are worried about this so there must be a significant number of players who have no connection with the south.
Possibly, I just hope there is no sectarian issues involved that if your from the north and are from a protestant family you play for the north and that's it because there is too much red tape to cut through and re-precussions if you declared for the south. If the red tape was removed and it was a simple im playing for the ROI there could be a lot of defectors as the in-built stigma is almost taken away of been seen as a traitor. You only have to look at the Old Firm situation to see its a major issue.
Those who would like to be involved in beating England, Spain, Sweden and Denmark on magical Windsor nights
It has been the case in the (not too recent) past that players from the wrong background actually got harassed when they did turn out for the North (Neil Lennon actually received death threats a few years back); any wonder they want to play down here instead.
Originally Posted by Dub13 This guy Gibson has no relations from the south thats why he is a 'test case'.I agree most would have family in the south but the IFA are worried about this so there must be a significant number of players who have no connection with the south. Let the player decide .. best outcome for all from a comitment perspective Where was the fuss over English born Alan Kernaghan who qualified to play for Norn Iron underage football by a grand parent and then changed coat when he became available for senior football? Then again, big Jack shafted him for WC1994 with Phil Babb ...
Perhaps, UEFA could set up a interprovincial/duchy/kingdom/principality type group and the winners qualify for a play off place against a soverign nation for major tournaments.