Ian_C said:
We actually have Northern Ireland in Group C and Republic of Ireland in Group E. I'm going to sound stupid here, but why are there two Irish teams anyway?
****ing hell Ian!!! Talk about taking the pin out of a hand grenade and passing it to someone while asking what it is!?
The short version, the long version would take years and TBH it's a load of bigotry and bullshit.....
The island of Ireland is split into two countries, northern ireland, in the north eastern corner, is part of Britain. The rest of the island is known as the Republic of Ireland, or just Ireland, and it is an independent country. Although, given the proximity and history there are very strong cultural, social and familial links between Ireland and the UK. Broadly similar to what there must be between Canada and the USA.
As all four parts of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) play as seperate nations when it comes to football, that means NI have their own team.
Hence there are two "Irish" teams in the European Championships.
We like to complicate things on this island.
Ohh and this arrangement doesn't hold for all sports. For Rugby, Hockey and i think Golf, players from Northern Ireland will play international sport for a single all Ireland side.
I suspect it dates back to the partition of Ireland in 1922 (when, what is now the Republic of Ireland, left the UK and became a fully independent nation) when the various sporting governing bodies either decided to continue to as one unified body, or two split into two seperate ones.
Hopefully, that explains it without getting in to the politics of it all. That's one can of worms I'm not touching with 18 barge poles lol :lol: