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www.irishfa.comSTADIUM FACTS
Northern Ireland have scored a total of 292 goals
in their 234 games at Windsor Park in the last 106
years. Not surprisingly the player with the most
international goals at the ‘Shrine’ is David Healy
with an impressive tally of 19. Jimmy Quinn and
Kyle Lafferty, who have both scored 10 goals
each at Windsor, are the only other players to
have reached double figures.
Northern Ireland’s complete record at
Windsor Park is:
P
W
D
L
F
A
WCQ 57
27
13
17
83
61
ECQ
54
26
11
17
71
59
BIC
76
18
18
40
84
153
FR
47
15
14
18
54
59
Total: 234
86
56
92
292
332
The first International match played at the
stadium was held on 19 March 1910 when Ireland
defeated Scotland 1-0 in a British International
Championship contest in front of 17,000
supporters. Frank Thompson scored the only goal
of the game in the 54th minute.
The largest attendance ever recorded at what is
now the National Football Stadium was 59,000
when England ran out 2-0 winners on 2 October
1954. In contrast the lowest crowd ever to attend
an international fixture was 2,500 on 26 May
1989 when Chile defeated Northern Ireland 1-0
in a friendly. One of the reasons given for the
low turnout that evening was the live television
coverage of the First Division title decider
between Liverpool and Arsenal.
There have been four hat-tricks scored by Northern
Ireland players at Windsor Park. The first was by
Billy McAdams in a 4-3 World Cup qualifying defeat
to West Germany on 26 October 1960. Jonny
Crossan was the next player to achieve the feat in
a 4-1 World Cup qualifier victory over Albania on 7
May 1965. Next up was George Best whose treble
came in a 5-0 success over Cyprus in a European
Championship tie on 21 April 1971. The last and
probably the most famous hat-trick to be scored
at the ground was, of course, by David Healy in
the never-to-be-forgotten 3-2 win over Spain on 6
September 2006.
The most consecutive wins Northern Ireland have
ever recorded at Windsor Park is five between
21 September 1982 and 14 November 1984. If
Michael O’Neill’s charges defeat San Marino this
evening they will equal that record.
Northern Ireland’s longest unbeaten run at the
ground came between 21 November 1979, Danny
Blanchflower’s last game in charge, and 28 May
1983 when they drew 0-0 with England – a run of
11 games.
William Johnston became the first substitute to
score for Northern Ireland at Windsor when he
found the net in a 4-1 friendly win against Mexico
on 22 June 1966. Twelve players have managed
that feat since, the last one being Will Grigg in the
3-0 win over Belarus back in May.
England have been the most frequent visitors to
the ground over the years having played 32 games
in Belfast. Northern Ireland have won only four of
those encounters, the first coming in 1913 when
two goals from Billy Gillespie gave them a 2-1
victory. Gillespie was again on target 10 years later
when another 2-1 success was recorded. Following
a 2-0 win in 1927, there was a 78-year wait
before another home success and David Healy’s
memorable winner against Sven-Goran Eriksson’s
side in 2005.
The most goals that Northern Ireland have ever
scored in a single game at Windsor Park is five,
which has happened twice. The first occasion
was in April 1971 when they beat Cyprus 5-0,
the second came on 15 November 1995 when
Bryan Hamilton’s side defeated Austria 5-3 in a
European Championship tie - a game in which
current International boss Michael O’Neill scored
twice.
The fastest ever hat-trick by an opposition player
at the ground was on 4 September 1999 when Arif
Erdem scored three in just three minutes as Turkey
ran out 3-0 winners in a European Championship
qualifier. The fastest hat-trick by an opposing player
coming on as a substitute was by Germany’s Oliver
Bierhoff on 20 August 1997 when he found the net
three times inside six minutes to give the visitors a
3-1 World Cup qualifier victory.