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www.irishfa.com

STADIUM 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.