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Heidi McAlpin reflects on how she became hooked on supporting
Northern Ireland and reveals her daughter has now joined her in the
ranks of the Green and White Army…
Walking up the steps on that crisp early December
evening in 1986, I gazed in awe upon the emerald
expanse of the floodlit Windsor Park pitch.
This was my first visit to what was to become a
space I hold dear to my heart. Somewhere that
quickens the heart, engenders a smile and would,
over the years, illicit more than a few shrugs of
resignation and tears of unsurpassed joy.
The match that night was, as any statistically-
steeped superfan will assert, Pat Jennings’
testimonial. Kenny Dalglish was rumoured to be
playing and I, a Liverpool FC supporter at the time,
was giddy with excitement. Alas Dalglish was a
no-show but Bruce Grab-The-Air did appear, which
was good enough for me.
And then there was a certain former Northern
Ireland international, George Best. So obsessed
was I with King Kenny that George barely
registered. It was a different story for my fellow
spectators who, naturally enough, cheered his
every silky brush with the ball. I was to meet
George many years later, having booked him as a
guest on a local TV game show. By then I knew all
too well I was in the presence of a legend.
But back to Windsor in the ‘80s. That celebratory
night was instantly seared in my memory, and it
sparked a desire to return to the hallowed turf and
start following Northern Ireland proper. I owe this
bitter-sweet sporting addiction to my dad, journo
Colin McAlpin, who had also dragged me to many’s
a drab Irish League match as he reported for
Downtown Radio and various local newspapers.
Long drawn out Saturday afternoons spent
slumped in a bored fug in a dingy press box
couldn’t compare with the fizz of an international
fixture at this mighty stadium. Decades spent
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www.irishfa.comA BITTER-SWEET
SPORTING ADDICTION
The Green and White Army in full voice