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Northern Ireland Players in the FA Cup Final


Player
Club
Winner
Finalist

Baird, Chris
Bingham, Billy
Blanchflower, Danny
..
Blanchflower,,Jackie
Boyle, Peter
..
Bruce, Alex
Capaldi, Tony
Carey, Johnny
Carroll, Roy
Casey, Tom
Cassidy, Tommy
Cathcart, Craig
Cook, Billy 
Doherty, Peter
Dougan, Derek
Elder, Alex
Gillespie, Billy
Goodall, Archie
..
Gregg, Harry
Hunter, Allan
Irving, Sam
Jennings, Pat
..
..
Kennedy, Andrew
Kirwan, John
Lacey, Billy
MacKie, John
..
McAlinden, James
McCracken, Bill
..
McCreery, David
McFaul, Iam
McIlroy, Jimmy
McIlroy, Sammy
..
McMichael, Alf
McParland, Peter
Nelson, Sammy
..
Nicholl, Jimmy
Reynolds, John
..
Rice, Pat
..
..
Rogan, Anton
Ryan, Reg
Sanchez, Lawrie. 
Scott, Billy
Sloan, Tommy
Smyth, Sammy
Taggart, John
Thompson, Frank
Watson, Tommy
Whiteside, Norman
..
Wilson, Danny
Worthington, Nigel
..
..
Hull City
Cardiff City
Watford

..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Bradford City
Cardiff City
..
..
..
1961
1962(1)
..
1899
1902/R
..
..
1948
2004s
1955
..
..
1933
1946(1)
..
..
1927
1925
..
..
..
1978
1927
1967
1979
..
..
1901/R
..
..
..
1939
1910/R
..
1977s
..
..
1977
..
1952 
1957(2) 
1979
..
1977
1892(1)
1895
1971
1979
..
..
1954
1988(1)
1906
1927
1949(1)
..
1911
1927
1983(1) 
1985/R(1)
..
.. 
2003
1959
..
..
1957
1901/R
..
2014
2008
..
2005
..
1974
2019
..
..
1960
1962
1925
..
1898
1903
1958
..
..
..
1978
1980
1927
..
1914
1929
1934
..
1908
1911/R
..
1974
1962
1976
1979(1)
..
..
1978
1980s
1979
..
..
1972
1978
1980
1992
..
..
1907
..
..
1895
..
..
..
..
1993R
1993/R 










































Third Place Match
Winner's Tankard
From 1970-1974 there was a Third Place Match in the FA Cup, where the two losing semi-finalists faced each other. These matches struggled to find a place in the fixture schedule or in the hearts of fans, and were consequently short-lived. Interestingly, the first of these matches saw George Best's best FA Cup performance, as he never played in a final throughout his illustrious career. The only other NI players to feature in these matches were Derek Dougan and Danny Hegan in the final edition.

Third Place Play-Off Winners:
1970 George Best (Manchester United)
1974 Derek Dougan (2 goals), Danny Hegan (Wolves)

In 1956/57 the Sunday Pictorial newspaper began awarding the "Giant Killers Cup" for the lower-league club that made the biggest impact on the FA Cup that season. When the Pictorial was relaunched as the Sunday Mirror in 1963 the name of the trophy changed accordingly. The last winners appear to have been Second Division Sunderland, the FA Cup winners, in 1973 (tbc)

In a similar vein, the Ronnie Radford Giant-Killers Award (aka The FA Cup Giant-Killers Award) was launched in 2010/11, based on fans' votes.

1959 Bobby Brennan (Norwich City) [Division Three, semi-finals]
1965 Derek Dougan (Peterborough United) [Division Three, quarter-finals]

2014/15 Rory McArdle (Chelsea 2-4 Bradford City, fourth round)
2017/18 Will Grigg (Wigan Athletic (1 goal), Alex Bruce (unused sub) 1-0 Manchester City, fifth round)

KEY
(1) Goals scored
1985/R Played in Final and Replay
1985R Played in Replay only
1977s Appearance as substitute
1961 Captain


General Northern Ireland Player Records:
Most recent Winner: Roy Carroll (Manchester United, 2004 vs Millwall)
Most recent Finalist: Craig Cathcart (Watford, 2019 vs Manchester City)
Most recent Goalscorer: Lawrie Sanchez (Wimbledon, 1988 vs Liverpool)
Most Final Wins: 3 Jack Reynolds (West Bromwich Albion 1892, Aston Villa 1895, 1897)
Most Final Appearances: 5 Pat Rice (Arsenal 1971, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Most Final Goals: 2 Peter McParland (Aston Villa 1957); Norman Whiteside (Manchester United 1983, 1985)
Youngest Finalist: Norman Whiteside 18 years 13 days (Manchester United, 1983 vs Brighton)
Youngest Final Goalscorer: Norman Whiteside 18 years 18 days (Manchester United, 1983 vs Brighton (replay))

See also:
Northern Ireland's English Champions


Comments

Anonymous said…
Which final had the most northern Irish players?
jcd said…
1927 saw 5 (Northern) Irish players. 4 for Cardiff and 1 for Arsenal. This was matched in 1979 when 3 played for Arsenal and 2 for Man United.