Ireland national football team (The Boys in Green)

From the partition of Ireland in 1921 until the 1980s, football in the Republic suffered from the nation’s preferential interest in traditional Irish sports such as Gaelic football and hurling, The relaxation of eligibility rules in the 1970s was to provide a significant boost to their footballing aspirations though.

A number of regular and experienced performers in England’s top division suddenly became available for selection because of their grandparents’ Irish roots. Ironically, the man to take enormous advantage of the loosening of the rules and change the fortunes of Irish football was a legendary England World Cup winner.

Two years after the appointment of coach Jackie Charlton, the Republic reached the final stages of their first-ever major tournament at the European Championships in West Germany in 1988. Backed by the amazing support that has since become so familiar, the Irish announced their arrival loud and colourfully.

A first World Cup finals appearance at Italia 90 was only halted at the quarter-final stage by the hosts while a memorable effort at USA ’94 saw them gain World Cup revenge against Italy only to be eliminated in the second round.

Mick McCarthy led the Republic to their third World Cup finals in 2002 in Japan and South Korea. Although preparations were overshadowed by captain Roy Keane’s pre-tournament walk-out, they again performed creditably but fell in the second round; this time in a penalty shoot-out against Spain.

Now under the guidance of vastly experienced Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni, Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine will be the Republic’s second European Championships finals appearance.