Association football in the Republic of Ireland
[citation needed] For spectators in Ireland, English football is extremely popular compared with the domestic league, with up to 120,000 Irish fans travelling to watch games in the UK each year and 40,000 Irish fans travelling to watch games in the UK on a regular basis[5][6] Irish school children are commonly seen wearing replica shirts of English league teams.
In addition two Scottish football clubs with strong Irish roots, Celtic F.C.
In its earliest days, association football was largely confined to the city of Dublin and its surrounding county.
[7] Gradually it became more widespread throughout the country, to the point where in the modern day there are clubs in all of the counties of Ireland.
It was the start of televised football in England, and the amateur setup in Ireland, that led to a decrease in attendances and a lack of support for the home teams.
The national team's performance in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals is their best to date.
[10] Although the sport was being played in Ireland in the 1860s[citation needed], it was mainly based in Ulster and it was not until the 1880s that the game spread to other areas of the country.
Clubs from outside the Belfast area thought that the IFA favoured Ulster based clubs and when the IFA reneged on a promise to play the Irish Cup semi-final replay in Dublin and instead scheduled the match for Belfast a meeting of southern associations and clubs was arranged and on 1 June 1921, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) was formed in Molesworth Hall in Dublin.
On 28 May at the Stade Olympique, they beat Bulgaria 1–0, with Paddy Duncan scoring the team's first ever goal.
Ed Brookes scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 home win at Dalymount Park.
The Second World War curtailed international matches between 1939 and 1946, but league football went ahead with Cork United F.C.
In the 1960s Waterford United became one of the league's most successful clubs as they won three titles during the decade, though Shamrock Rovers were the team of the 60s.
Ireland finished bottom of their qualification group for the 1972 European Championship, ending Meagan's tenure as manager.
A 0–0 draw at Dalymount Park was marred by rioting in Dublin on the day of the match.
The major achievement was Dundalk's progress to the last 16 of the European Cup in 1979 when they eventually went out to Glasgow Celtic.
The domestic game went from bad to worse during the 1980s with clubs all over the country struggling for finance.
The Saipan incident, over the facilities and preparation for the 2002 World Cup, had far-reaching effects on the sport in Ireland.
The FAI commissioned a report from external consultants Genesis, into its World Cup preparations.
The "Genesis Report" agreed with many of Keane's criticisms, finding that the FAI structure was not conducive to good planning, made a range of recommendations.
A second Genesis report, this time produced by the FAI but disingenuously called "Genesis II" (or the "White Paper"), in 2005 recommended a radical overhaul of the League of Ireland and led to the appointment of an assessment group.
[18] The League of Ireland entered its best ever era in the 2000s when Bohemians knocked Aberdeen out of the UEFA Cup and beat Kaiserslautern of Germany in the next round.
Shelbourne became the first team to get to the third qualifying round of the Champions League, where they knocked out by Spanish club Deportivo La Coruña 3–0 on aggregate.
However, the league continued in improving results and thanks in part to Cork City making progress in the Champions League qualifiers, and Derry City beating IFK Gothenburg and Gretna in the UEFA Cup before falling in the final tie before the group stage.
The Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales jointly bid to co-host UEFA Euro 2020.
These changes were mainly made in an effort to better performances in European competition by League of Ireland clubs.
At the moment, two channels (RTÉ and TG4) show live matches and/or highlights of Premier Division games.
[22][23] It also features the Under 20 sides from the Scottish top tier as well as Welsh and Northern Irish clubs.
The Republic of Ireland's first competitive international finished in a 1–0 victory against Bulgaria on 28 May 1924 in the Olympics.
