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#Post#: 1279--------------------------------------------------
Greatest XIs
By: jcd Date: October 9, 2020, 12:08 pm
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Always a good one for an argument is the All-Time XI. Everyone
has their own criteria which will be largely subjective.
I'm going to use cold hard facts here and give you a few ...
Most Capped XI:
[center]Pat Jennings [119 Caps (1964-1986)]
Aaron Hughes [112 Caps (1998-2018)] - Gareth McAuley [80 Caps
(2005-2018)] - Jonny Evans [85 Caps (2006-date)] - Mal Donaghy
[91 Caps (1980-1994)]
Chris Baird [79 Caps (2003-2016)]
Sammy McIlroy [88 Caps (1972-1986)] - Steven Davis [120 Caps
(2005-date)] - Keith Gillespie [86 Caps (1995-2008)]
David Healy [95 Caps (2000-2013)] - Kyle Lafferty [77 Caps
(2006-date)][/center]
I did consider where I could fit in Maik Taylor [88 Caps
(1999-2011)] but don't think he could do much better than Laffs
up front.
Highest Goalscorer (by position) XI
[center]Josh Magennis [7 goals (2010-date)]
Gareth McAuley [9 goals (2005-2018)] - Wilbur Cush [5 goals
(1950-1961)] - Gerry Taggart [7 goals (1990-2002)]
Norman Whiteside [9 goals (1982-1989)]
Peter McParland [10 goals (1954-1962) - Steven Davis [12 goals
(2005-date)] - Martin O'Neill [8 goals (1971-1984)] - Billy
Bingham [9/10 goals (1951-1963)]
David Healy [36 goals (2000-2013)] - Kyle Lafferty [20 goals
(2006-date)][/center]
Come on, I couldn't not use Josh "he used to be a keeper y'know"
English Title Winners XI (most titles, then most games in title
winning seasons)
[center]Elisha Scott [2 Liverpool 1922, 1923]
Pat Rice [1 Arsenal 1971] - Bill McCracken [3 Newcastle 1905,
1907, 1909] - Jonny Evans [3 Man Utd 2009, 2011, 2013] - Billy
Cook [1 Everton 1939]
Danny Blanchflower [1 Spurs 1961] - Jackie Carey [1 Man Utd
1952] - Jack Reynolds [3 Aston Villa 1894, 1896, 1897]
Martin O'Neill [1 Nott'm Forest 1978] - Billy Lacey [2 Liverpool
1922, 1923]
George Best [2 Man Utd 1965, 1967][/center]
They won the "Greatest League in the World[sup]TM[/sup]" or it's
immediate predecessor, so that must make them the best!
Anyone any other submissions?
#Post#: 2540--------------------------------------------------
Re: Greatest XIs
By: Jonny Date: November 30, 2020, 11:44 pm
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You could put Emma Higgins in nets instead of Josh as Emma
actually scored a goal and is a goalkeeper, if it was mixed
gender teams allowed.
#Post#: 7291--------------------------------------------------
Re: Greatest XIs
By: jcd Date: November 10, 2021, 3:25 am
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Random XI of the day ...
Dream NI Debut XI
1. Harry Gregg (Doncaster Rovers) W 2-1 vs Wales 1954. Actually
really hard to find a keeper for this XI, but Harry & Co got a
win and the team was starting to take shape for the successful
1950s.
2. Alan McDonald (QPR) W 1-0 vs Romania (WCQ) 1985. A young Big
Mac thrown into this must-win match. He did rightly as he did in
the next one against England too!
3. George McCartney (Sunderland) W 3-0 Iceland (WCQ) 2001. Sammy
McIlroy's first campaign had been a bit up-and-down, but there
were signs of promise and when a young Premier League defender
popped up with a debut goal the signs for the future looked
bright - sadly it was a false dawn.
4. Gerry McElhinney (Bolton) W 1-0 vs West Germany (ECQ) 1983.
Thrown into the deepend against Hamburg, McElhinney formed an
impressive centre-back pairing with John McClelland as one of
world football's giants were beaten in their own back-yard.
5. Jonny Evans (Manchester United) W 3-2 vs Spain (ECQ) 2006.
Northern Ireland might have been a bit punch-drunk after a
weekend mauling by Iceland, but Lawrie Sanchez shook-up his
starting XI with the young Evans taking an unfamiliar left-back
role in another famous win.
6. Sam Baxter (Cliftonville) W 4-1 vs Wales 1887. Baxter was a
surprise inclusion against Wales in 1887 as Ireland recorded
their first ever win. He was never capped again!
7. Jackie Scott (Grismby) W 2-1 vs Czechoslovakia (WCF) 1958.
Northern Ireland were struggling for attacking options through
injuries as they faced the Czechs to see who would advance to
the quarter-finals of the World Cup. In came Scott for his debut
and he must have done enough as a famous 2-1 extra-time win was
attained and he held on to his place for the next match against
France.
8. Sammy McCrory (Southend) W 3-2 vs England 1957. McCrory was
33 when he finally earned his first cap, and he scored as
Northern Ireland claimed their first ever win at Wembley.
Amazingly it was his only cap!
9. Andy Gara (Preston) W 3-0 vs Wales 1902. A hat-trick on his
debut for Gara as Wales suffered a comprehensive defeat at (old)
Grosvenor.
10. Billy Gillespie (Sheffield United) W 2-0 vs England 1913.
Two debut goals for Gillespie as England were beaten for the
first time. It was a sign of things to come, Ireland won the
International Championship for the first time the following
year, and Gillespie scored a total of 13 international goals, a
record that stood until surpassed by David Healy in 2004.
11. Norman Whiteside (Manchester United) D 0-0 vs Yugoslavia
(WCF) 1982. At 17 years and 41 days Whiteside became the
youngest player ever to feature at the World Cup finals, taking
the record previously held by Pele. He didn't look out of place!
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