Northern Ireland's Post-War Penalties

In 1892 Ireland were awarded the first ever penalty in an international match. Sam Torrans' kick, against England, was saved by William Rowley. It wasn't until 1896 that the first international penalty was scored as Bob Milne converted his attempt as Ireland drew 3-3 with Scotland. Milne would go on to miss three international penalties, all against England in 1897, 1898 and 1902. The idea of the penalty kick had been proposed by an Armagh-man, William McCrum, in 1890 and adopted into the laws of the game the following year.

Since the Second World War Northern Ireland have enjoyed a mixed record from the spot. The known penalty takers are listed below.

Date	Opponent	Ven	Res	Comp	Taker	Outcome
16/04./47	Wales	H	2-1	BC	Doherty	Scored
						(1/1)
12/05./51	France	H	2-2	FR	Ferris	Scored
						(1/1)
03/10./53	Scotland	H	1-3	WCQ  /BC	Lockhart	Scored
						(1/1)
01/05./57	Portugal	H	3-0	WCQ	McIlroy	Scored
						(1/1)
06/11./57	England	A	3-2	BC	McIlroy	Scored
						(2/2)
18/11./59	England	A	0-1	BC	McIlroy	Saved
						(2/3)
06/04./60	Wales	A	2-3	BC	Blanchflower	Scored
						(1/1)
09/11./60	Scotland	A	2-5	BC	Blanchflower	Scored
						(2/2)
29/04./64	Uruguay	H	3-0	FR	Crossan	Scored
						(1/1)
29/04./64	Uruguay	H	3-0	FR	Crossan	Scored
						(2/2)
14/10./64	Switzerland	H	1-0	WCQ	Crossan	Scored
						(3/3)
07/05./65	Albania	H	4-1	WCQ	Crossan	Scored
						(4/4)
21/10./67	Scotland	H	1-0	ECQ	Crossan	Missed
						(4/5)
03/02./71	Cyprus	A	3-0	ECQ	Best	Scored
						(1/1)
12/05./73	England	H	1-2	BC	Clements	Scored
						(1/1)
17/10./79	England	H	1-5	ECQ	Moreland	Scored
						(1/1)
14/11./84	Finland	H	2-1	WCQ	Armstrong	Scored
						(1/1)
17/02./88	Greece	A	2-3	FR	Clarke	Scored
						(1/1)
06/02./91	Poland	H	3-1	FR	Magilton	Scored
						(1/1)
11/05./91	Faroe Islands	A	5-0	ECQ	Clarke	Scored
						(2/2)
07/09./94	Portugal	H	1-2	ECQ	Quinn	Scored
						(1/1)
26/04./95	Latvia	A	1-0	ECQ	Dowie	Scored
						(1/1)
15/11./95	Austria	H	5-3	ECQ	Dowie	Scored
						(2/2)
11/02./97	Belgium	H	3-0	FR	Magilton	Scored
						(1/1)
02/04./97	Ukraine	A	1-2	WCQ	Dowie	Scored
						(3/3)
28/03./00	Malta	A	3-0	FR	Hughes	Scored
						(1/1)
28/03./01	Bulgaria	A	3-4	WCQ	Healy	Scored
						(1/1)
06/10./01	Malta	A	1-0	WCQ	Healy	Scored
						(2/2)
30/05./04	Barbados	A	1-1	FR	Healy	Missed
						(2/3)
04/06./05	Germany	H	1-4	FR	Healy	Scored
						(3/4)
03/09./05	Azerbaijan	H	2-0	WCQ	Feeney	Scored
						(1/1)
12/09./07	Iceland	A	1-2	ECQ	Healy	Scored
						(4/5)
20/08./08	Scotland	A	0-0	FR	Healy	Saved
						(4/6)
17/11./10	Morocco	H	1-1	FR	Patterson	Scored
						(1/1)
15/08./12	Finland	H	3-3	FR	Paterson	Scored
						(1/1)
08/10./16	San Marino	H	4-0	WCQ	Davis	Scored
						(1/1)
01/09./17	San Marino	A	3-0	WCQ	Davis	Scored
						(2/2)
21/03./19	Estonia	H	2-0	ECQ	Davis	Scored
						(3/3)
16/11./19	Netherlands	H	0-0	ECQ	Davis	Missed
						(3/4)
30/05./21	Malta	N	3-0	FR	Magennis	Saved
						(0/1)
02/09./21	Lithuania	A	4-1	WCQ	Washington	Scored
						(1/1)
02/09./21	Lithuania	A	4-1	WCQ	McNair	Scored
						(1/1)

Players	Taken	Scored	Success %
Armstrong, Gerry	1	1	100%
Best, George	1	1	100%
Blanchflower, Danny	2	2	100%
Clarke, Colin	2	2	100%
Clements, Dave	1	1	100%
Crossan, John	5	4	80%
Davis, Steven	4	3	75%
Doherty, Peter	1	1	100%
Dowie, Iain	3	3	100%
Feeney, Warren	1	1	100%
Ferris, Ray	1	1	100%
Healy, David	6	4	67%
Hughes, Michael	1	1	100%
Lockhart, Norman	1	1	100%
Magennis, Josh	1	0	0%
Magilton, Jim	2	2	100%
McIlroy, Jimmy	3	2	67%
McNair, Paddy	1	1	100%
Moreland, Vic	1	1	100%
Paterson, Martin	1	1	100%
Patterson, Rory	1	1	100%
Quinn, Jimmy	1	1	100%
Washington, Conor	1	1	100%
	42	36	86%

Have we missed any? Please get in touch.

All Northern Ireland Penalties vs England:

(from England Football Online)

• 1892 Sam Torrans (vs Bill Rowley, saved (along with Dalton's follow-up), towards the close of the match. Trip by Underwood on Torrans) [first penalty in an international fixture]
• 1897 Bob Milne (vs Jack Robinson, wide, c.18 mins. Foul by Bill Williams on John Darling)
• 1899 Joe McAllen (vs Jack Hillman, saved (McAllen scored from rebound), c.65 mins. Foul by Jimmy Crabtree)
• 1902 Bob Milne (vs Bill George, saved, second half. Handball by Bob Crompton)
• 1935 Jackie Coulter (vs Harry Hibbs, crossbar, 57 mins. Handball by Eddie Hapgood)
• 1957* Jimmy McIlroy (vs Eddie Hopkinson, 32 mins (hit post and entered net after deflecting off goalkeeper's head). Foul by Billy Wright on Danny Blanchflower)
• 1959 Jimmy McIlroy (vs Ron Springett, saved, 39 mins. Don Howe & Ken Browne foul on McIlroy)
• 1973 Dave Clements (vs Peter Shilton, 22 mins. Peter Storey foul on Sammy Morgan) 
• 1979 Vic Moreland (vs Peter Shilton, 49 mins. Mick Mills foul on Sammy McIlroy)

Northern Ireland scored 3 from 10 vs England (30%). 

* McIlroy's 1957 penalty counted in some sources as a "miss" and a Hopkinson own goal.

All Northern Ireland Penalties vs Scotland:

(from Scottish Sport History)

• 1896 Robert Milne
• 1912 James McKnight
• 1953 Norman Lockhart
• 1967 Johnny Crossan (saved by Ronnie Simpson)
• 2008 David Healy (saved by Allan McGregor)

Northern Ireland scored 3 from 5 vs Scotland (60%)