Opposition: Hat-tricks (and more)

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo scored
a second half hattrick against
Northern Ireland at Windsor Park
in 2013

There have been 53 hat-tricks, by 50 different players, scored against (Northern) Ireland since 1882. While of course the names of Law, Greaves, Bierhoff and Ronaldo are world renowned and their feats will live long in the history books, a match against Ireland, particularly in the early days, presented opportunities for some players to shine brightly on the international stage, if only briefly (three different Scotsmen scored four against Ireland while winning their one-and-only cap!).

Of course, as with many historical football statistics, and goalscorers in particular, who scored and when can remain a point of conjecture. Such things were often recorded by journalists, sitting a hundred yards away, on an ad-hoc basis and without the aid of TV replays or other modern technology. The fact is, there may have been more (or less) hat-tricks scored against Ireland than those listed here. Even the scorer of the first ever hattrick can not be ascertained with any certainty as the timings of the goals in the Ireland’s 1882 meeting with England were not fully recorded.

In the 49 matches were an opponent scored a hat-trick, Ireland avoided defeat just once, a 4-4 draw with Wales in 1906. On four (or possibly five) occasions an Irish side faced the ignominy of conceding hat-tricks from the two different players in the same match. It wasn't until the 2000s, when David Healy scored three in games against Spain (2006) and Liechtenstein (2007) that the number of hat-tricks scored by Northern Ireland players in a decade out-numbered the number conceded.

All the Hat-tricks Conceded

(opposition score first)

#	ID	Date	Gls	Player	Team	Venue	Comp.	Result
1	001	18/02/1882	5	Howard Vaughton	England	Belfast	FR	13-0
2	001	18/02/1882	4	Arthur Brown	England	Belfast	FR	13-0
3	002	25/02/1882	4	John Price	Wales	Wrexham	FR	7-1
4	007	23/02/1884	3	Harry Cursham	England	Belfast	BC	8-1
5	009	14/03/1885	4	Alex Higgins	Scotland	Glasgow	BC	8-2
6	010	11/04/1885	3	Herbert Sisson	Wales	Belfast	BC	8-2
7	012	13/03/1886	4	Ben Spilsbury	England	Belfast	BC	6-1
8	013	20/03/1886	4	Charles Heggie	Scotland	Belfast	BC	7-2
9	014	05/02/1887	3	Tinsley Lindley	England	Sheffield	BC	7-0
10	017	03/03/1888	4	Jack Doughty	Wales	Wrexham	BC	11-0
11	018	24/03/1888	4	William Dickson	Scotland	Belfast	BC	10-2
12	019	07/04/1888	3	Albert Allen	England	Belfast	BC	5-1
13	020	02/03/1889	3	Jack Yates	England	Liverpool	BC	6-1
14	021	09/03/1889	3	Willie Groves	Scotland	Glasgow	BC	7-0
15	022	27/04/1889	3	Richard Jarrett	Wales	Belfast	BC	3-1
16	024	15/03/1890	3	Frederick Geary	England	Belfast	BC	9-1
17	032	25/02/1893	3	Walter Gilliat	England	Birmingham	BC	6-1
18	044	20/02/1897	3	Fred Wheldon	England	Nottingham	BC	6-0
19	050	18/02/1899	4	Gilbert Smith	England	Sunderland	BC	13-2
20	050	18/02/1899	3	Jimmy Settle	England	Sunderland	BC	13-2
21	052	25/03/1899	3	Robert McColl	Scotland	Glasgow	BC	9-1
22	056	23/02/1901	4	Sandy McMahon	Scotland	Glasgow	BC	11-0
23	056	23/02/1901	4	Bob Hamilton	Scotland	Glasgow	BC	11-0
24	069	01/03/1902	3	Bob Hamilton (2)	Scotland	Belfast	BC	5-1
25	074	02/04/1906	3	Arthur Green	Wales	Wrexham	BC	4-4
26	079	14/03/1908	4	Jimmy Quinn	Scotland	Dublin	BC	5-0
27	090	10/02/1912	3	Harold Fleming	England	Dublin	BC	6-1
28	121	27/02/1926	3	Hugh Gallacher	Scotland	Glasgow	BC	4-0
29	127	21/02/1928	3	Paul Nicolas	France	Paris	FR	4–0
30	131	23/02/1929	4	Hugh Gallacher (2)	Scotland	Belfast	BC	7-3
31	156	23/10/1937	3	George Mills	England	Belfast	BC	5-1
32	160	16/11/1938	5	Willie Hall	England	Manchester	BC	7-0
33	162	28/09/1946	3	Wilf Mannion	England	Belfast	BC	7-2
34	168	09/10/1948	3	Stan Mortensen	England	Belfast	BC	6-2
35	171	01/10/1949	3	Henry Morris	Scotland	Belfast	WQ/BC	8-2
36	172	16/11/1949	4	Jack Rowley	England	Manchester	WQ/BC	9-2
37	175	01/11/1950	4	Billy Steel	Scotland	Glasgow	BC	6-1
38	190	20/04/1955	3	John Charles	Wales	Belfast	BC	3-2
39	211	15/10/1958	4	Justo Tejada	Spain	Madrid	FR	6–2
40	224	07/10/1961	3	Alex Scott	Scotland	Belfast	BC	6-1
41	227	11/04/1962	4	Mel Charles	Wales	Cardiff	BC	4-0
42	231	07/11/1962	4	Denis Law	Scotland	Glasgow	BC	5-1
43	233	03/04/1963	3	Cliff Jones	Wales	Belfast	BC	4-1
44	237	20/11/1963	4	Jimmy Greaves	England	Wembley	BC	8-3
45	237	20/11/1963	3	Terrry Paine	England	Wembley	BC	8-3
46	240	03/10/1964	3	Jimmy Greaves (2)	England	Belfast	BC	4-3
47	329	06/06/1979	3	Preben Elkjaer	Denmark	Copenhagen	EQ	4-0
48	411	27/03/1991	3	Darko Pancev	Yugoslavia	Belgrade	EQ	4-1
49	458	20/08/1997	3	Oliver Bierhoff	Germany	Belfast	WQ	3-1
50	472	04/09/1999	3	Arif Erdem	Turkey	Belfast	EQ	3-0
51	473	08/09/1999	3	Christian Ziege	Germany	Dortmund	EQ	4-0
52	587	06/09/2013	3	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Belfast	WQ	4-2
53	648	19/11/2019	3	Serge Gnabry	Germany	Frankfurt	EQ	6-1

Summary

by nation

England	21 (or 22)
Scotland	15 (or 14)
Wales	8
Germany	3
France	1
Spain	1
Denmark	1
Yugoslavia	1
Turkey	1
Portugal	1
	53

multiple hat-tricks by player

Robert Hamilton	SCO	1901 (4), 1902
Hughie Gallacher	SCO	1926, 1929 (4)
Jimmy Greaves	ENG	1963 (4), 1964

multiple hat-tricks in a match

1882 vs ENG	13-0	Howard Vaughton (5), Arthur Brown (4)
1899 vs ENG	13-2	Gilbert Smith (4), Jimmy Settle
1901 vs SCO	11-0	Sandy McMahon (4), Robert Hamilton (4)
1963 vs ENG	8-3	Jimmy Greaves (4), Terrry Paine

Graph 1

by decade

[Hat-tricks by (Northern) Ireland players in brackets]

1880s	15
1890s	6 (2)
1900s	5 (2)
1910s	1
1920s	3
1930s	2 (1*)
1940s	4
1950s	3
1960s	7 (2)
1970s	1 (1)
1980s	0
1990s	4 (1)
2000s	0 (2)
2010s	2
2020s	-
	53(11)

* Joe Bambrick infact scored a double hat-trick against Wales in 1930, so this number may also have been record as (2)

the scorers

#1 (5)	#2 (4)	#3 (4)	#4	#5 (4)
Howard Vaughton (Eng)	Arthur Brown (Eng)	John Price (Wal)	Harry Cursham (Eng)	Alex Higgins (Sco)

1/5 [5/6 (1882-84)]	1/4 [3/4 (1882)]	2/4 [12/4 (1877-83)]	3/4 [8/5 (1880-84)]	1/4 [1/4 (1885)]
#6	#7 (4)	#8 (4)	#9	#10 (4)
Herbert Sisson (Wal)	Ben Spilsbury (Eng)	Charles Heggie (Sco)	Tinsley Lindley (Eng)	Jack Doughty (Wal)

2/4 [3/4 (1885-86)]	1/4 [3/5 (1885-86)]	1/4 [1/4 (1886)]	4/7 [13/14 (1886-91)]	2/4 [8/6 (1886-90)]
#11 (4)	#12	#13	#14	#15
William Dickson (Sco)	Albert Allen (Eng)	Jack Yates (Eng)	Willie Groves (Sco)	Richard Jarrett (Wal)

1/4 [1/4 (1888)]	1/3 [1/3 (1888)]	1/3 [1/3 (1889)]	1/3 [3/4 (1888-90)]	1/3 [2/3 (1889-90)]
#16	#17	#18	#19 (4)	#20
Frederick Geary (Eng)	Walter Gilliat (Eng)	Fred Wheldon (Eng)	Gilbert "G.O." Smith (Eng)	Jimmy Settle (Eng)

1/3 [2/3 (1890-91)]	1/3 [1/3 (1893)]	2/3 [4/6 (1897-98)]	6/7 [20/11 (1893-01)]	3/4 [6/6 (1899-03)]
#21	#22 (4)	#23 (4) & #24	#25	#26 (4)
Robert McColl (Sco)	Sandy McMahon (Sco)	Bob Hamilton (Sco)	Arthur Green (Wal)	Jimmy Quinn (Sco)

5/7 [13/13 (1896-08)]	2/4 [6/5 (1892-02)]	4/10 [11/15 (1899-11)]	3/3 [8/3 (1901-08)]	4/5 [11/7 (1905-12)]
#27	#28 & #30 (4)	#29	#31	#32 (5)
Harold Fleming (Eng)	Hugh Gallacher (Sco)	Paul Nicolas (FRA)	George Mills (Eng)	Willie Hall (Eng)

3/4 [11/9 (1909-14)]	6/11 [20/24 (1924-35)]	1/3 [35/20 (1920-31)]	1/3 [3/3 (1937)]	2/6 [10/9 (1933-39)]
#33	#34	#35	#36 (4)	#37 (4)
Wilf Mannion (Eng)	Stan Mortensen (Eng)	Henry Morris (Sco)	Jack Rowley (Eng)	Billy Steel (Sco)

3/4 [26/11 (1946-51)]	3/5 [25/23 (1947-53)]	1/3 [1/3 (1949)]	1/4 [6/6 (1948-52)]	5/5 [30/12 (1947-53)]
#38	#39 (4)	#40	#41 (4)	#42 (4)
John Charles (Wal)	Justo Tejada (SPA)	Alex Scott (Sco)	Mel Charles (Wal)	Denis Law (Sco)

6/6 [38/15 (1950-65)]	1/4 [8/4 (1958-61)]	2/4 [16/5 (1956-66)]	4/5 [31/6 (1955-62)]	10/6 [55/30 (1958-74)]
#43	#44 (4) & #46	#45	#47	#48
Cliff Jones (Wal)	Jimmy Greaves (Eng)	Terrry Paine (Eng)	Preben Elkjaer (Den)	Darko Pancev (YUG)

/ [59/16 (1954-69)]	4/10 [57/44 (1959-67)]	2/3 [19/7 (1963-66)]	1/3 [69/38 (1977-88)]	3/4 [27/17 (1984-91)]
#49	#50	#51	#52	#53
Oliver Bierhoff (Ger)	Arif Erdem (TUR)	Christian Ziege (Ger)	Cristiano Ronaldo (Por)	Serge Gnabry (Ger)

5/4 [70/37 (1996-02)]	2/3 [60/11 (1994-03)]	3/3 [72/9 (1993-04)]	3/3 [170/102 (2003-)]	2/4 [17/14 (2016-)]

Key:

Notes:

· The first international hattrick – John McDougall for Scotland vs England 1878

· #1 / 2 – timings of goals uncertain, order may be reversed. These were Brown’s only international goals. These were the first hattricks by any England players on what was both players’ international debuts

· #3 – Price’s only international goals

· #4 – some sources list Charlie Bambridge as having scored an additional hattrick in this match, while most sources credit Charlie with two goals and his brother Arthur with one

· #5 – Higgins’ only cap (4 goals)

· #7 – Spilsbury’s debut

· #8 – Heggie’s only cap (4 goals)

· #11 – Dickson’s only cap (4 goals)

· #12 – Allen’s only cap

· #13 – Yates’ only cap

· #15 – Jarrett’s only international goals

· #16 – Sources are sketchy as to how many Geary scored, it could have been anything between two and five. In any case, this match brought his only international goals. England actually fielded two teams on this day. A professional northern-England XI faced Ireland in Belfast while a mixed gentleman amateur/professional XI defeated Wales 3-1 in Wrexham

· #17 – Gilliat’s only cap

Stan Mortensen scored three international
hattricks (including one against Northern
Ireland) as well as a treble for Blackpool
in the 1953 FA Cup final

· #18 – Wheldon’s debut

· #20 – Settle’s debut

· #22 – Some sources credit McMahon with as little as two goals in this match

· #25 – Green’s only international goals

· #29 – Nicolas had previously played against Ireland Amateurs in 1921

· #31 – Mills’ only international goals

· #32 – Three of Hall’s five goals came in a 3 minute 30 second spell. This remained the quickest international hattrick for 62 years

· #33 – Mannion’s debut

· #34 – this was Mortensen’s third and final international hattrick

· #35 – Morris’ only cap

· #38 & #41 – John and Mel Charles were brothers and hence the only siblings to have scored a hattrick against Northern Ireland

· #39 – Justo Tejada’s only international goals

· #46 - This was Greaves’ fifth of six international hattricks (his second against Northern Ireland)

· #48 – Cap stats for Yugoslavia only. Later played for Macedonia – 6 caps / 1 goal (1993-1995)

· #49 – Bierhoff came on as a substitute on 70 minutes with Germany trailing 1-0. He scored his goals on 73, 78 and 79 minutes.

· #50 – Arif Erdem’s hattrick in four minutes is the quickest ever scored in an international match at Windsor Park

Sources:

NIFG

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Opposition: Hat-tricks (and more)

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