A long man from Kesh: NI Euro Qualifying 2016
Many weren’t sure if manager and one time financial adviser Michael O’Neill would survive the bottom line and keep his job after the previous series…
Chris Baird
A walk through the killing fields: World Cup Qualifying 2014
There are a few times in my Celtic-crossed footballing life that the pallor fails and your remaining drops of adrenaline suggest you flee from the…
A fall of a Swiss mountain, a foothold in the heart: Northern Ireland v Switzerland
Basel. An everyday routine city in north-western Switzerland became another landmark for the Northern Irish footballing family last Sunday. If the real story lay elsewhere,…
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…
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: 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…
GAWA: Matches I’ll Take To My Grave: Greece 2015
8th October 2015 Northern Ireland v Greece (3-1) Windsor Park, Belfast Greece is the word! Conventionality was certainly thrown away that balmy autumn night as…