- Dual Internationals -
While there are a long list of players who have played for (Northern) Ireland and another country, there are also two players known to have played in full internationals against us for two different teams...
Bobby Evans (Wales & England)
Bobby Evans' international selections have parallels with Jack Reynolds, who played for both Ireland and England in the final decade of the 19th Century. Evans was born to Welsh parents in Cheshire (in England, near the border with Wales). It was Wales that got hold of him first, and he was capped 10 times between 1906 and 1910 while playing for Wrexham, Aston Villa and Sheffield United. When his English birth was discovered the FA selected him and he took to the field in the white of England to face Ireland, ten months to the day since he had faced the same opposition in Welsh red - those two matches brought his only international goals. He won a total of four caps for England, including two against his former Welsh teammates.
Caps vs Ireland
- Cap #3 - 02/04/1906 Wales vs Ireland (Wrexham) D 4-4 BIC
- Cap #10 - 11/04/1910 Wales vs Ireland (Wrexham) W 4-1 [2 goals] BIC
- Cap #11 - 11/02/1911 England vs Ireland (Derby) W 2-1 [1 goal] BIC
Gordon Hodgson (South Africa & England)
In 1924 South Africa embarked on a four month tour of the British Isles and the Netherlands. On that tour they took part in what is now regarded as their first official international, defeating Ireland 2-1 in Belfast [the status of this international remains disputed] and followed that up with Amateur Internationals against Wales and England before their second Full International, against the Netherlands. Among the South African squad was Gordon Hodgson, who was one of several players he remained in England to become full-time professional footballers. Hodgson, who had English parents, impressed with Liverpool (where he was to break their goalscoring record) and earned selection by the FA for three internationals, the first of which was against Ireland.
Caps vs Ireland
- Cap #1 - 24/09/1924 Ireland vs South Africa (Belfast) W 2-1 FR
- Cap #3 - 20/10/1930 England vs Ireland (Sheffield) W 5-1 BIC
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On a related note, in the wake of the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the late-1980s and 1990s many new countries were created, while existing countries had their borders shifted and names changed.
GERMANY
 | West Germany [BRD] (1974)
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 | East Germany [DDR] (1974)
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 | Weimar Republic flag (1919-1933)
(West) German [BRD] flag (1949-date)
East German [DDR] flag (1949-1959) |
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 | | East German [DDR] flag (1959-1990) |
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When Germany was split into West and East in the aftermath of the Second World War/beginning of the Cold War, it was West Germany (aka Federal Republic of Germany [FRG/BRD]) that was considered a continuation to the pre-War German football team. Northern Ireland never got to play East Germany (aka the German Democratic Republic [GDR/DDR]) before they were re-absorbed into a unified-Germany (still officially FRG/BRD) in 1990. Hence, it is only really a matter of English nomenclature that the players below can be considered to have played for two different countries.
Rudi Voller (West Germany / Germany) - 17/11/1982 N.Ireland vs West Germany (Belfast) L 0-1 ECQ
- 02/06/1992 Germany vs N.Ireland (Bremen) D 1-1 FR
Total Caps/Goals: 90/47 (1982-1994) - |
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Lothar Matthaus (West Germany / Germany) - 17/11/1982 N.Ireland vs West Germany (Belfast) L 0-1 ECQ
- 16/11/1983 West Germany vs N.Ireland (Hamburg) L 0-1 ECQ
- 27/03/1999 N.Ireland vs Germany (Belfast) W 3-0 ECQ
- 08/09/1999 Germany vs N.Ireland (Dortmund) W 4-0 ECQ
Total Caps/Goals: 150/23 (1980-2000) -
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YUGOSLAVIA
 | | SFR Yugoslavia (1990) |
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 | FR Yugoslavia
(1998) |
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 | | Serbia & Montenegro (2006) |
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 | | Serbia (2010) |
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 | SFR Yugoslavia flag
(1946-1992) |
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 | | FR Yugoslavia / Serbis & Monetengro flag (1992-2006) |
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 | Serbia flag
(2004-2010) |
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 | Serbia flag
(2010-date) |
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When Northern Ireland first faced Yugoslavia they were a united communist state - the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The last meetings between the sides were in the qualifiers for Euro 92, at which point Yugoslavia as we knew it was collapsing in a bloody civil war. After serving an international ban through to the mid-90s the rump Federal Republic of Yugoslavia re-emerged in world football (minus Bosnia-Herzegovenia, Croatia, Macedonia (aka FYR Macedonia, now North Macedonia) and Slovenia).
No players survived in the Yugoslav line-ups from Northern Ireland's last meeting with SFR Yugoslavia in 1991 and their first meeting with FR Yugoslavia in 2000, or indeed to subsequent meetings with Bosnia, Croatia or Slovenia.
Yugoslavia wasn't done changing though, as the state was renamed Serbia & Montenegro in 2003, before again splitting into two separate nations, Serbia and Montenegro, in 2006. Surprisingly only two players from all the ex-Yugoslav states have appeared against Northern Ireland under two different banners.
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Mateja Kezman (FR Yugoslavia / Serbia & Montenegro) - 16/08/2000 N.Ireland vs F.R.Yugoslavia (Belfast) W 2-1 [1 goal] FR
- 28/04/2004 N.Ireland vs Serbia & Montenegro (Belfast) D 1-1 FR
Total Caps/Goals: 49/17 (2000-2006) -
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Dejan Stankovic (FR Yugoslavia / Serbia) - 16/08/2000 N.Ireland vs F.R.Yugoslavia (Belfast) W 2-1 FR
- 25/03/2011 Serbia vs N.Ireland (Belgrade) W 2-1 ECQ
- 02/09/2011 N.Ireland vs Serbia (Belfast) W 1-0 ECQ
Total Caps/Goals: 103/15 (1998-2013) -
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Links:
Gordon Hodgson (South Africa & England)
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