BOOK EXTRACT: Former Irish Times soccer correspondent PETER BYRNEcharts the history of soccer on this island in Green Is The Colour. Here, he looks at the dispute between the FAI and IFA over the name of Ireland

IF THE eligibility rules governing the selection of the two rival international teams on the island of Ireland had been clarified beyond misinterpretation by the early 1950s, the issue of the correct identification of the sides sent out by the football authorities in Dublin and Belfast continued to be as contentious as ever.

With the exception of the two meetings with England, at Dalymount Park in 1946 and at Goodison Park three years later, the FAI had been fielding teams under the title of Ireland since 1936. And as the English authorities were quick to emphasise, the reason for the exceptions was that, logically, they could not be seen to play teams from different jurisdictions in the same season, each claiming to be called Ireland.

The FAI thought they had won their case beyond further debate when, after a FIFA meeting in Paris, a spokesman for the world governing body addressed the Irish press contingent gathered in the French capital for the return World Cup meeting of the countries in the Parc des Princes on 25 November 1953. He announced that the Dublin-based organisation had been acknowledged as the one with the better credentials to the title of Ireland, and that northern teams should play as Northern Ireland.

Nothing in Irish football could ever be as definitive as that, however, and no sooner had the statement been circulated in the international media, than Belfast mounted a counter-campaign.

It led inevitably to the IFA tabling a motion at FIFA’s annual Congress at Lisbon in 1954, calling on the authorities to instruct the FAI to refrain from misrepresenting themselves as Ireland in international competition.

In an accompanying submission, the Belfast organisation claimed that history and tradition established them as the only organisation fitted to claim the title of Ireland, and after outlining the reasons for the split and the various attempts made to arrive at a settlement, the document read: “From time to time, various suggestions were made and conferences held to formulate a working arrangement between the two Associations. These meetings proved abortive as they were bound to do, with political influences as they existed in the Irish Free State. But the position altered with the action of the Irish Free State leaving the British Commonwealth.

“In consequence of this, the FA of the Irish Free State forfeited all claim to any connection with the Irish Football Association and the other British Associations.

“The title taken by the once Football Association of the Irish Free State should be altered to the real name of the country over which they claim jurisdiction – that is Éire. It is important at this stage to point out that association football is not recognised as their national game which is called ‘Gaelic’ and is an amalgamation of association and rugby football.

“Although their territory may be greater in extent than that of the Irish Football Association, there are vast tracts of that territory in which no association football is played at all.

“The position today is that the Irish Football Association remains the national association and, indeed, the only association entitled to use the title ‘Ireland’. Its territory may be reduced in size but in every other respect it remains unaltered. It carries the confidence of the other British associations and takes its place in the British international championship as ‘Ireland’ and is the only body competent to do so. The Irish Football Association has suffered many attempts at interference with great tolerance, but in every instance, they have acted within the laws and within their rights with due regard for the rights of others.

“The Irish Football Association has been accepted and recognised as one of the four British Associations since its formation seventy-four years ago and is, in fact, the fourth oldest association in the world. All it asks is to be left alone to conduct its own business in its own country as the national association recognised by the other British Associations and FIFA.”

Joe Wickham, armed with a bundle of miniature maps of Ireland to enable delegates to appreciate the anomaly of the IFA governing just a sixth of the territory on the island of Ireland, and yet purporting to appropriate the title of “Ireland”, said that in terms of membership the FAI was quite the bigger of the two organisations and, since the split, had expanded at a far greater rate than the body north of the border.

Further, he argued that his organisation was recognised throughout the world of football as representing Ireland, with the exception of the four British countries. And he raised the ire of Belfast delegates by stating that the FA of England, by far the biggest and most powerful of these organisations, now acknowledged the validity of their claim to send out teams, representing itself as Ireland.

Notwithstanding the decision arrived at in Paris the previous year, Congress decreed that, in future, the FAI’s teams be designated as the Republic of Ireland, with those selected by the IFA to be known as Northern Ireland. Although initially disappointed by the ruling, Dublin gave immediate effect to it by playing under their new title for the first time, in the friendly game against Norway at Dalymount Park, on 7 November 1954.

The IFA, by now reinstated as a member of FIFA, continued to play as Ireland in the British championship and Northern Ireland in the remainder of their international fixtures. This led to protests from Dublin that FIFA was not policing its own rules effectively and that because of the continued refusal of the IFA to adhere to its new title, it should be suspended. However, with the wisdom born of their recurring failure to reconcile the warring Irish factions in the past, the governing body shrank from precipitate action, and eventually the problem was sorted by default when the British championship lapsed in the early 1980s.

The record books show that the Republic of Ireland team launched the new era with a win, Con Martin and Reg Ryan securing the goals which enabled them to overcome Norway 2–1.