Northern Ireland national football B team

The Northern Ireland national football B team is a secondary football team run occasionally as support for the Northern Ireland national football team. Primarily seen as a stepping-stone between the under-21 and full international teams, B team matches are also used to give a run-out for fringe players and to honour Irish League players who would not otherwise gain international recognition.

Matches are rarely played by Northern Ireland at this level due to their limited player pool, necessitating rapid elevation of young players to the 'Full' squad. Matches have been played against other football associations' 'B' teams and against various national "selects".

History
The Northern Ireland 'B' team made its first appearance in 1957, playing against Romania 'B' who were not deemed worthy of a 'Full' international (note: Romania was commonly referred to as Rumania in the English language up until the 1980s). The occasion of October 23, 1957 marked the first use of the Windsor Park floodlights for an international fixture. A one sided match finished 6-0 with a hat-trick from Derek Dougan and further goals from Sammy McCrory, Sammy Chapman and Jackie Scott.

The match against Rumania was followed up with two matches against France B in 1959 and 1960 before Under-23 international matches became de rigueur in the 1960s. The 'B' format re-emerged in the 1990s as national teams focussed on Under-21 rather than Under-23 matches and thus a "stepping stone" from Under-21 to 'Full' was required.

Northern Ireland's most recent match at 'B' level was against Scotland B in May 2009.

Fixtures
None

Previous matches
Performance Record:

Squad for most recent game
(vs. Scotland B, May 6, 2009)

Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards
 * Trevor Carson (Sunderland)
 * Jonathan Tuffey (Partick Thistle)
 * Chris Casement (Wycombe Wanderers)
 * Craig Cathcart* (Manchester United)
 * Adam Chapman (Oxford United)
 * Shane Duffy (Everton)
 * Scott Gibb (Stirling Albion)
 * Jeff Hughes* (Bristol Rovers)
 * Daniel Lafferty (Celtic)
 * Rory McArdle* (Rochdale)
 * Ryan McGivern (Manchester City)
 * Robbie Weir (Sunderland)
 * Martin Donnelly* (Crusaders)
 * Corry Evans (Manchester United)
 * Shane Ferguson (Newcastle United)
 * Robert Garrett (Linfield)
 * Pat McCourt (Celtic)
 * Niall McGinn (Celtic)
 * Oliver Norwood (Manchester United)
 * Michael O'Connor (Crewe Alexandra)
 * Curtis Allen* (Lisburn Distillery)
 * James Lawrie (Port Vale)
 * Andrew Little (Rangers)
 * Josh McQuoid (AFC Bournemouth)
 * Dean Shiels* (Doncaster Rovers)
 * Jamie Ward* (Sheffield United)
 * *Player withdrew from final squad.

Other previous players
Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards
 * Alan Fettis
 * Roy Carroll
 * David Miskelly
 * Elliott Morris
 * Tom Evans
 * Iain Jenkins
 * Pat McGibbon
 * Colin Murdock
 * Darren Patterson
 * Aaron Hughes
 * Keith Rowland
 * Peter Kennedy
 * Barry Hunter
 * Stephen Craigan
 * Mike Duff
 * Danny Griffin
 * Gareth McAuley
 * Paul Morgan
 * Chris Baird
 * Jon McCarthy
 * Danny Sonner
 * Philip Mulryne
 * Stephen Robinson
 * Michael O'Neill
 * Danny Lennon
 * Jeff Whitley
 * Tommy Doherty
 * Grant McCann
 * Wayne Carlisle
 * Stuart Elliott
 * Steve Jones
 * Shaun Holmes
 * Jim Whitley
 * Gerry McMahon
 * George O'Boyle
 * David Healy
 * Rory Hamill
 * Gary Hamilton
 * Andy Kirk
 * Andy Smith
 * James Broome

Former coaches
(Record: Played Won-Drawn-Lost)
 * Peter Doherty 1957-1959 (2 1-1-0)
 * Len Graham 1960 (1 0-0-1)
 * Bryan Hamilton 1994-1997 (4 2-0-2)
 * Roy Millar 1998 (1 1-0-0)
 * Lawrie McMenemy 1999 (1 0-0-1)
 * Sammy McIlroy 2003 (1 0-0-1)
 * Nigel Worthington 2009 (1 0-0-1)