Sport in Northern Ireland
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Sport in Northern Ireland plays an important role in the lives of many Northern Irish people. Most sports are organised on an all-Ireland basis, for example rugby union, Gaelic games, basketball, rugby league, hockey, and cricket, whereas others, like association football and netball are organised on a separate basis for Northern Ireland.[1]
Association football
The Northern Ireland Women's Football Association (NIWFA) is the IFA's
Many football fans in Northern Ireland prefer to support teams from England such as Manchester United and Liverpool and teams from Scotland such as Celtic and Rangers.
Domestic competitions
The domestic league is the
The
The Setanta Sports Cup was set up by its sponsors, television channel Setanta Ireland. It is an all-island tournament, featuring twelve teams, six from the League of Ireland and six from the Irish League. Despite fairly low turn-outs for each jurisdiction's leagues,[citation needed] the Setanta Cup drew relatively successful gate receipts[citation needed] and in five editions has had one winner from Northern Ireland (Linfield in 2005).
National team
Most of the players come from the English or Scottish leagues although occasional appearances of Irish League players have been known.
Rugby union
Rugby union is a very popular team sport played in Ireland. The sport is organised on an all-Ireland basis with one team, governing body and league for both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Governing body Irish Rugby Football Union
The Irish Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in Ireland. The IRFU is divided into four branches which represent the four provinces of Ireland: Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht.
Competitions
See also
Irish provinces compete in the
Competitions have taken place since the late 19th century with the modern day Inter-provincial Championship between Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connacht first contested in 1920.
Another focus for the domestic game in Ireland is the
Statistics
According to the
The IRFU Annual Report for season 2006–2007 reported playing figures within Ireland as follows:
- Adult Male Players: 21740
- Women Players: 1756
- Number of Secondary Schools Players: 23586
- Number of Youth Players: 12472
- Number of Mini Rugby Players: 10967
- Primary School: 32209
- TOTAL PLAYERS: 100974
Current trends
The professional era and the advent of the
Ireland international games sell out against all but the weakest opposition, and with the team playing at Croke Park this year the attendances may reach 80,000.
The All-Ireland national team
The Ireland national team are considered by the
Ireland contest the Millennium Trophy with England as part of the Six Nations Championship.
Every four years the
.Gaelic games
Gaelic games include Gaelic football, hurling, and Gaelic handball.
Governing body
Gaelic games in the North are controlled by the Ulster Provincial Board, which covers all nine counties of Ulster.
Competitions
Every footballer or hurler plays for a local club, with the best players being selected for county panels. Each county has its own county championship, with the winners going on to play in the
The county teams play in pre-season competitions, such as the National Football League, which serves as preparation for the Ulster Senior Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. The hurling equivalents are the National Hurling League, Ulster Senior Hurling Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. In recent years, the most successful football teams from the North have been Tyrone GAA and Armagh GAA. Hurling teams from have found it difficult to make an impact against the top counties from the South, with Antrim GAA the most successful.
County players may be selected for the Ulster provincial side to play in the
Cricket
There have been brighter spots in recent years, however. Dublin-born
Ireland went on to win the
On the 22nd of June 2017, Ireland was awarded Test status following a five-year fight, becoming the eleventh team to have Test status.[5] Ireland's first Test match was at home to Pakistan in May 2018, losing by 5 wickets after being forced to follow on.[6] After a tour to Afghanistan, Ireland faced England in a four-day Test match at Lord's in July 2019, bowling England out for 85 before losing by 143 runs.[7] Ireland's second innings, in which they were bowled out for 38 in 15.4 overs, was the lowest completed innings in the history of Lord's.[8]
In November 2019, the Irish cricket team qualified for the
Motorsport
Northern Ireland is well known as being a centre for motorcycle road racing, staging International and Irish National races.
Previously two international races were held, being the North West 200 and the Ulster Grand Prix.[10]However due to ongoing financing and sponsorship issues affecting Ulster Grand Prix the future of the meeting continues to remain open to question, with the last running of the event occurring in 2019.[11][12][13]Consequently as of 2024 only the North West 200 features on the International Road Racing calendar.[14]
Irish National meetings comprise the Cookstown 100 and the Armoy Road Races.[15][16][17]Formerly the calendar also included the Tandragee 100,[18]the Enniskillen Road Races and the Mid-Antrim 150.[19]
Road racer Joey Dunlop was voted as Northern Ireland's greatest ever sportsperson in a Belfast Telegraph poll, ahead of footballer George Best. During his career he took five consecutive Formula I World Championships, 26 Isle of Man TTs, 13 wins at the North West 200 and 24 victories at the Ulster GP, and attracted support from both the Protestant and Catholic communities.[20] In addition, his brother Robert and nephews Michael and William have also been successful road racers, with all three taking multiple wins at the North West 200 and Ulster GP and Robert and Michael also taking several TT victories.[21]
Other notable road racers from the province include Phillip McCallen, who took 11 TT wins, including four in one week in 1996, five wins out of six races at the 1992 North West 200, five wins on one day at the 1996 Ulster GP, as well as the Macau Grand Prix,[22] and Ryan Farquhar, another multiple winner at the TT, North West 200 and Ulster GP, who took a total of 384 wins during his career.[23]
On the track,
On four wheels, Northern Ireland's most notable
Golf
Golf is a very popular sport in Northern Ireland. Golfers from Northern Ireland enjoyed great success especially in the 2010s. Between 2010 and 2015 Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy won 25% of the titles in Major Championships.
Basketball
For more international exposure, athletes from
Ice hockey
The Belfast Giants have competed in the Elite Ice Hockey League since the 2000-01 season and are the sole Northern Irish team in the league. The team's roster has featured Northern Irish born players such as Mark Morrison, Graeme Walton and Gareth Roberts among others.[32]
Geraldine Heaney, an Olympic gold medalist and one of the first women inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame, competed internationally for Canada but was born in Northern Ireland.[33]
Boxing
Boxing is a popular sport in Northern Ireland. Prominent Northern Irish boxers include Carl Frampton, Ryan Burnett, Wayne McCullough and Paddy Barnes, amongst others .
Professional wrestling
In 2003, independent
A new promotion and wrestling school Titanic Wrestling started up in April 2019. It is currently owned by local wrestler JDP. Former WWE NXT UK star
See also
References
- ^ How do other sports in the island cope with the situation? The Herald, 3 April 2008
- ^ Ireland's Cricketers at Leinster v Leicester. Cricket Ireland.
- ^ [1] Cricket Ireland.
- ^ GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND TO SUPPORT CRICKET IRELAND ON ICC REBUFF Cricket News.
- ^ Ireland and Afghanistan granted Test status after becoming 11th and 12th full ICC members The Telegraph.
- ^ Imam-ul-Haq guides Pakistan home after Ireland scare ESPN Cricinfo.
- ^ Scorecard: Only Test, Ireland tour of England at Lord's ESPN Cricinfo.
- ^ Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad wreck Ireland dream in a session ESPN Cricinfo
- ^ T20 World Cup Qualifier: Ireland qualify after Jersey earn shock win over Oman BBC Sport.
- ^ Rushby, Oli (20 September 2017). "Roads: 2018 North West 200 & Ulster Grand Prix dates confirmed". Motor Cycle News. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ^ https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2022-03-07/ulster-grand-prix-future-in-doubt-as-2022-centenary-event-cancelled
- ^ https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/future-of-ulster-grand-prix-in-question/
- ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/northern-ireland/67922745
- ^ https://bikesportnews.com/tt-and-roads/north-west-200-shakes-up-racing-programme-for-2024-dates-confirmed/
- ^ https://cookstown100.org/
- ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/northern-ireland/67922745
- ^ https://amrrc.com/new-year-new-update-on-rumours/
- ^ https://roadracingnews.co.uk/category/uk/tandragee-100/
- ^ https://roadracingnews.co.uk/category/uk/mid-antrim-150-road-races/
- bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- bbc.co.uk. 2 May 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- ^ "Life Stories with Motorcyclist Ryan Farquhar". Ulster University. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- newsletter.co.uk. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- HeraldScotland.com. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- bbc.co.uk. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- autosport.com. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ "Lunch with Paddy Hopkirk". Motor Sport. March 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ Hammill, Sammy (7 September 2018). "Sacked Meeke is gearing up to make comeback at Rallylegends". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ BasketballNI.com – Home
- ^ "Belfast Giants [EIHL] all-time player roster at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
- ^ "Legends of Hockey - Induction Showcase - Geraldine Heaney". www.hhof.com. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
- ^ "Owen Nolan - Elite Prospects".
- ^ Ireland, Culture Northern (30 January 2009). "Pro Wrestling Ulster". Culture Northern Ireland. Retrieved 14 March 2017.