GAWA: Thirteen to one – Not odds, but odd. NI World Cup Qualifying 2010
A glorious late summer day in Bratislava greeted the long snake of green-shirted fans heading through the narrow streets to the Tehelne Pole Stadium. Apartment…
International
GAWA: Baking a dozen in Northern Europe – NI Euro 2008 Qualifying
So a respectable enough showing in the previous World Cup campaign had Northern Ireland enjoying life in the mid-noughties. Manager Sanchez had now got a…
Neutrality Violated: Northern Ireland v Switzerland Play-Off Preview
Northern Ireland find themselves in their first ever World Cup play-off on Thursday 9th November since the 1958 Italian encounter. Cows and bells and William…
GAWA: Heal thyself – NI World Cup Qualifying campaign 2006
Slowly and gently, Northern Ireland fans gently and gingerly began to filter out of their shelters and self- help groups after the previous year. The…
GAWA: “It only takes a second to score a goal” – NI Euro Qualifying Campaign 2004
God alone knows what Brian Clough who coined the above saying would have made of Northern Ireland’s 2004 Euro qualifying campaign. He was fond of…
GAWA: The status still quo – NI one year on from the Euros
There was huge interest on NI after France to see if that was ‘it’ – our only party piece. It appears it may have been…
GAWA: “Oh Sammy Sammy, Sammy Sammy Sammy Sammy McIlroy” – NI World Cup Qualifying 2002
The chant had echoed many times around my formative visits to Windsor Park. It was more than a dozen years since I had heard it…
GAWA: There’s teutons on the starboard bow. NI v Germany preview
One wonders how many of us actually stop and really think about the actualities around tonight’s match v Germany. From the fixture releases many of…
GAWA: Appetite for destruction – NI midfield destroyers
I’ve never been happy with the term watercarriers. Yes, I get it and understand its genesis. It is a snappy title and it is generally…
GAWA: Matches I’ll Take to my Grave: Ukraine 2016
16th June 2016 Northern Ireland v Ukraine (2-0) Stade de Lumiere, Lyon Isn’t it such a thing when a word, place or song instantly conjures…