Northern Ireland v Netherlands

GREAT PLAYERS ARE GREAT PLAYERS I recently checked the records for the last match played between Northern Ireland and Netherlands and I was stunned to discover it was October 1977, some 42 years ago.

Football pitches are designed to have football played on them, and while styles have changed over the years the great players stride across whatever turf they are gracing. Both internationally and domestically football fans in Northern Ireland have had the opportunity to see many of the best. The aforementioned Best and Cruyff, more recent superstar Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in 2013, Tommy Dickson couldn’t stop scoring for the Blues. There was also the prolific Jackie Milburn and the England World Cup winners. Wilbur Cush, reckoned to be one of the best at what he did by his peers, provided the backbone for the 1958 team and blended perfectly with the mastery of Danny Blanchflower and the wizardry of Jimmy McIlroy. Steven Davis would have been a great player in any age. We have hosted many of the top British and European sides over the years, and while the methods and style of the game have changed the principles stay the same. Players are players, great players are great players. Players can have great matches and poor matches, but for those of us who love the game we should celebrate them all. When we watch tonight’s match I wonder if you, like me, will think wistfully back 42 years to the grace and skills of two of the best ever. Their ghosts will forever bestride the turf no matter who is playing. It is their gift to us, their legacy to the stadium and one we should never forget. Perhaps tonight we will witness one of the greatest (Van Dijk perhaps?) or maybe not, but regardless let’s enjoy the present, the living and the ghosts. But those of us who can should not forget the past because it has forged us into what we are today. Words William Campbell

I had a lot more hair (and I mean a lot) back then, a lot less inches around the waist and the sparkling eyed optimism of a 19-year-old student. This was before Margaret Thatcher (the PM was James Callaghan), Jimmy Carter was President of USA, it was the days of the Cold War and the Berlin Wall, petrol was sold in gallons and the UK was a member of the Common Market. There was no internet, no social media, no mention of Brexit! Flares were in, hair was large, collars were larger. This was an alien time. A time almost before civilisation as we know it. I remember standing on the terraces where the North Stand is today to watch the Dutch, 1974 World Cup finalists, defeat us 1-0. My memory tells me it was an early kick-off in daylight, probably a combination of poor floodlights and the ‘Troubles’, for after all we had only returned to playing matches in Belfast in April ’75. The match had been awaited with much anticipation. The Dutch had a fearsome reputation. This was the era of Total Football, after all. Little did we know then that we were watching the 1978 World Cup finalists in action. Neither would we have realised that it would be the last appearance in a green shirt for George Best, nor that we should be savouring the opportunity to see both Best and Cruyff on the same pitch. Of course, not knowing what happens next is one of the problems and yet also a blessing. Can you imagine how dull life would be if we knew the outcomes we would be facing, if we knew the results before the games are played (maybe not the lottery results though!)? Best and Cruyff on the same pitch is the 1970s equivalent of Messi and Ronaldo. And it got me thinking about how many other superstars have appeared on the hallowed turf of Windsor Park, and yes I do know that the pitch has been relaid on many occasions, but this is metaphorical.

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