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18

www.irishfa.com

“Many children dream of sporting glory. I know I

did when I used to go to Windsor Park, Belfast, to

watch Northern Ireland play. I remember vividly one

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pylon in torrential rain and watching a game against

Scotland. I left the ground soaked to the skin, but

I was too busy with my thoughts of one day being

good enough to represent my country to bother

about a minor detail like possible pneumonia.”

Pat Jennings

“It has gone on record, from David Beckham to

everyone that comes here, that no-one relishes

coming to Windsor Park. The Windsor Roar

is renowned throughout the world. There’s an

incredible atmosphere here. The place rocks when

there is a full house. It’s only a small stadium but

the noise levels are incredible.”

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“The night I made my home debut at Windsor Park

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only because I scored two goals but because the

noise levels were unbelievable. In those days you

could cram nearly 40,000 people into the ground,

but as the years went by it was clear it was in

desperate need of modernisation.

“The stadium now looks fantastic and even though

it’s half the capacity it was in my day I don’t think

it has lost any of its atmosphere. I think today the

fans are just as vocal and the noise they make just

reverberates around the stadium.”

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“A full house at the stadium makes as much noise

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want to work even harder on the pitch.

“Sometimes in a break in play during games the

players just look around at the whole ground doing

the Bouncy and it’s an absolutely amazing sight.”

Chris Baird

“The fans are a huge factor in making Windsor Park

such a fortress. The noise and atmosphere they

create at home is amazing: it makes teams fear

coming to Belfast.

“It also gives the players belief that they could beat

anybody at Windsor and that has been shown over

the years in the way they have come from behind to

beat the likes of Spain, Sweden and Denmark.”

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“During my time as an international I came to

realise that Windsor was just as special a place to

play football in as any of the much vaunted grounds

around the world.

“When the noise starts and the crowd get behind

the team the place really begins rocking. It lifts the

players no end and they and the crowd feed off

each other.”

Jim Magilton

“When I was a young boy I used to stand on the old

Spion Kop at Windsor Park. It was a heaving mass

of bodies, a wall of noise that was the backdrop to

some unbelievable games. I used to stand there

with my dad in awe of the atmosphere.

“One evening stands out for me. It was 12

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grabbed the crucial goal, slipping the ball past their

keeper right in front of the Kop. He ran towards us

with his arms in the air.

“The noise was incredible. I imagined tasting that

feeling.”

Keith Gillespie

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