Why Didn’t Football in Ireland Stay Unified Like Other Sports?

Enjoyed this? Click here for more niche football Nonsense The Rebellion That Forced Football to Turn... On the 17th of March 1936, a team representing the Football Association of the Irish Free State played Switzerland in Dublin. Other than this being the hosts first victory in 4 years, as well as it taking place on St. Patrick’s Day, there was something else significant about this particular game. It was the first full international match where the home side would play under the name “Ireland”. The awkward thing for Ireland being, that there was already a national team using the name Ireland, that represented the Irish Football Association in Northern Ireland. I’m seeing double Four Irelands. Unlike most other sports, association football was sliced in two during the Partition of Ireland in 1921, resulting in the existence of two national FAs, The Irish Football Association (IFA) and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), two separate national leagues (The Irish League and the League of Ireland), and for many years, two national teams that both claimed the title of “Ireland”. This is going to need some explaining. Why isn't there an All-Ireland football team like in Other Sports? Well From the early dominance of Belfast clubs and the "safety" dispute of 1921 to the chaotic era of "Double Internationals" where players represented both sides in the same week, we explore how politics, partition, and a 100-year-old grudge created the FAI vs IFA divide we see today. Route None would love your support. If you enjoy deep dives uncovering the stories behind events from football history, cosy footballing stories, and other nonsense, don't forget to subscribe. Your support helps the channel grow. If you're feeling even more generous then you can support the channel by visiting https://buymeacoffee.com/routenone or clicking 'Join' on the channel page SOURCES (Full List with links available on Notion: https://spangle-cup-7da.notion.site/R... ) [01m27s] 14th January 1881, “(Association Rules.) Irish Football Association”, Northern Whig, P. 7, retrieved from British Newspaper Archive [01m52s] Peter Byrne, 2012, Green is The Colour [TV Documentary], RTE [02m51s] 27th October 1892, “Leinster Football Association”, Evening Herald (Dublin), P. 3 [03m15s] The Football History Boys, 2nd April 2025, Ireland's Two Football Teams: Politics, Splitters and Spurs, Youtube [03m44s] 13th April 1971, “The GAA “Ban” Rule Goes”, Derry Journal, P. 10 [04m10s] List of Irish Cup Winners retrieved from Wikipedia [04m20s] 23rd March 1905, “Professionalism To Be Adopted”, Londonderry Sentinel, P. 6 [04m41s] Richard McElligott and David Hassan, 2016, A Social and Cultural History of Sport in Ireland [05m02s] Data for “Ireland Internationals At Home” retrieved from Wikipedia [05m11s] Connor Curran, 2023, The League Of Ireland: An Historical and Contemporary Assessment [06m20s] 7th December 1912, “The Celtic Park Riot”, Portadown News, P. 8 [06m24s] 13th March 1919, “Football Riot”, Illustrated Police News, P. 3 [07m06s] 21st September 1912, “Unprecedented Football Riot”, Batley News, P. 11 [07m15s] 14th March 1921, “Glenavon Refuse”, Evening Herald (Dublin), P. 4 [08m21s] 20th August 1921, “Brief Preliminary Notes on Football Affairs”, Sport(Dublin), P. 4 [08m30s] 22nd August 1921, “All About the New Association”, Dublin Evening Telegraph, P. 3, [08m44s] 17th September 1921, “North-West Clubs to Join Football Association of Ireland”, Evening Herald (Dublin), P. 3 [08m53s] 19th September 1921, “The I.F.A.”, Belfast News Letter, P. 3 [10m15s] James Quinn, 2023, No Foreign Game [10m35s] 9th February 1923, “More Light On Recent Conference”, Freeman’s Journal, P. 7 [11m18s] 9th October 1923, “Dominion Status for Free State Association”, Lisburn Standard, P. 5, [12m28s] 6th June 1923, “Council Meeting of the F.A.I.”, Dublin Evening Telegraph, P. 4 [13m40s] List of dual Irish international footballers retrieved from Wikipedia [16m28s] Lineups retrieved from englandfootballonline [16m59s] 2nd October 1950, “I.F.A. Hitting Back in Eire Soccer War First Ulster Steps”, Belfast Telegraph, P. 8 [17m20s] 26th April 1951, “What F.I.F.A. Really Said”, The Irish Times, P. 3, [17m58s] 9th August 1952, “Eire Pamphlets At Helsinki”, Belfast News Letter, P. 6, [18m38s] 25th November 1953, “I.F.A. Question Eire’s right To Call Themselves Ireland”, Belfast News Letter, P. 7, EXTENDED Neal Garnham, 2004, Association Football and Society in Pre-partition Ireland