Northern Ireland stats you possibly didn't know

NI stats man Marshall Gillespie takes a trip through the history of the international team including NI's connection with Manchester United.

And if you think you know everything there is about the Northern Ireland team, then think again.

Enjoy this feast of knowledge - from the earliest days playing as an Ireland team and through to the appointment of Ian Baraclough as Michael O'Neill's successor.

Nearly every Northern Ireland supporter could tell you that at 17 years and 41 days Norman Whiteside is the youngest player ever to appear in the finals of a World Cup.

Whiteside is, however, not the youngest ever to play for Ireland/Northern Ireland - that honour goes to the little known Sam Johnston, who was a mere 15 years and 154 days when he made his debut in the first ever international match versus England in February 1882.

Johnston made his second international appearance just a week later in the 7-1 defeat to Wales, but the Distillery forward did have the distinction of scoring the consolation goal and Ireland's first ever at senior level.

In total there have been 14 players who have made their debut for Ireland/Northern Ireland before their 18th birthday.

Current squad member Shane Ferguson is the 11th youngest to make the list when he played against Italy at the tender age of 17 years and 329 days, while Josh Carson, who is now at Coleraine, was 17 years and 355 days old when he won his first cap against the Republic of Ireland in May 2001.

The first ever full international match to be played at Windsor Park was on 19 March 1910, when Northern Ireland defeated Scotland 1-0 with a goal from Cliftonville's Frank Thompson.

Last November's scoreless draw with the Netherlands was the 251st full international fixture at the now revamped National Stadium at Windsor Park, with 96 of those matches having ended in victory for Northern Ireland, 98 in defeat and 57 in draws.

A total of 130 players have scored 318 goals for Northern Ireland in those 251 matches, with all-time top goalscorer David Healy holding the record of most international goals at the ground with a hugely impressive 19.

Northern Ireland's longest unbeaten run at Windsor is 11 matches (eight wins and three draws) which came between November 1979 and May 1983 - a record that still stands to this day! The sequence was broken though when Wales won a Home International encounter against Billy Bingham's side 1-0 on 31 May 1983.

Today, the stadium's capacity is 18,434, but on 8 October 1960 a record 60,000 spectators crammed into the stadium to watch England win a Home International contest 5-2 thanks to goals from Jimmy Greaves (2), Bobby Charlton, Bobby Smith and Bryan Douglas.

When Ethan Galbraith came on as a substitute to make his full international debut against Luxembourg last September, he became the 31st Manchester United player to turn out for the Northern Ireland senior side.

The first ever United player to win a full Irish cap was former Belfast Celtic inside forward Mickey Hamill, who actually scored on his international debut as England ran out 6-1 winners at Dalymount Park on 10 February 1912.

A total of 13 players have scored 37 goals for Northern Ireland while on the books of United with the late, great George Best leading the way with nine. Norman Whiteside scored eight of his nine international goals as a United player while David Healy registered four during his days at the Theatre of Dreams.

Midfielder Sammy McIlroy won 52 of his 88 caps when playing for the Manchester club, more than any other player, while the legendary Jimmy Nicholl played 41 times during a six-year spell at Old Trafford.

The top 10 most capped Northern Ireland players while at Manchester United are: Sammy McIlroy (52), Jimmy Nicholl (41), Jonny Evans (38), Norman Whiteside (36), George Best (32), David McCreery (23), Mal Donaghy (18), Harry Gregg (16), Chris McGrath (16) and Jackie Blanchflower (12).

It didn't take long for the great Peter McParland to make his mark in international football when he scored after just 30 seconds of his Northern Ireland debut against Wales in March 1954.

His quickfire strike was also Northern Ireland's 100th in Home International matches against Wales and he didn't stop there, as after 52 minutes he found the net for the second time to give the visitors their first victory in Wrexham in 31 years.

Wales were also the opponents on 25 May 1979 when Blackpool striker Derek Spence scored the second fastest ever goal for Northern Ireland when he fired home after just 56 seconds at Windsor Park.

That time was equalled though by Luton Town midfielder Danny Wilson when his spectacular effort opened the scoring in a friendly encounter against Poland in Belfast on 23 March 1988.

Two other players have also registered goals in the first minute of a Northern Ireland match, though exact times have never been confirmed. Olphie Stanfield is credited with scoring within '60 seconds of a 3-1 defeat to Wales in Belfast in April 1889, as is Davy Walsh, who actually scored two inside five minutes of a 3-2 reverse to Scotland at Hampden in November 1948.

There have only ever been three Northern Ireland players to have scored an international goal while plying their trade abroad.

The first to ever achieve this feat was striker Gerry Armstrong who scored in the 1-1 draw against Wales at the Vetch Field in May 1984 while he was playing for La Liga side Real Mallorca.

Six months later Armstrong found the net again while still with the Spanish outfit when he converted from the penalty spot to give Billy Bingham's side a crucial 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over Finland at Windsor Park.

Having scored 62 goals in 324 games in England, 27-year-old striker James Quinn made the switch to European football in March 2002 when he signed for Dutch team Willem II.

During his two-and-a-half seasons with the Eredivisie side, his only international goal came in April 2004 when he scored in a 1-1 draw for Lawrie Sanchez's outfit in a friendly encounter against Serbia and Montenegro at Windsor Park.

Kyle Lafferty has played abroad for four clubs in four countries and is the only Northern Ireland player to score an international goal while with two different foreign teams.

He was with Swiss side FC Sion when on target in the 3-3 friendly draw versus Finland at Windsor Park in August 2012 and was on loan with Turkish outfit Caykur Rizespor when he managed a double against the same opponents in a 2-1 Euro 2016 qualifying win, also in Belfast.

To find the net on your first appearance for Northern Ireland is not as unusual as you would first think. In fact, a total of 55 players have managed this feat since the very first Irish international played in 1882!

However, for two players to score on their debut in the same match is quite a unique event and has only happened on two occasions in the past 138 years.

The first time was in 1912 when Ireland defeated Wales 3-2 at Ninian Park with debutant John McCandless, who played for Bradford Park Avenue, scoring twice and Bohemians' 'Batty' Brennan also managing a goal on his first appearance.

It was to be 72 years before this was repeated though, when Blackburn Rovers Jimmy Quinn and Linfield midfielder Lee Doherty found the net whilst winning their first caps in a 3-0 friendly victory over Israel in Belfast in October 1984.

The only player ever to score a hat-trick on his international debut for Northern Ireland is Andrew Gara, who hit three goals in 35 mins to give his side a 3-0 success over Wales at Cardiff Arms Park in February 1902.

Roscommon born Gara, who only won three international caps in total, was at Preston North End at the time but also went on to play for both Nottingham Forest and Bristol City.

New manager Ian Baraclough takes over the role as national coach with Michael O'Neill having left the side in a fairly healthy 36th place in the current Fifa rankings.

Since the rankings were first introduced by Fifa in 1993, the highest position Northern Ireland has ever reached has been 20th in September 2017 under O'Neill.

Ironically, O'Neill was also in charge of the team when we sunk to our lowest ever placing of 129 in September 2012, though in fairness the current Stoke City supremo had only been in the job for seven months.

Northern Ireland's steady improvement over the past few years has meant that 'Our Wee Country' has not been ranked outside the top 50 countries in the world since February 2015!

When Lawrie Sanchez took over the managerial hotseat at Windsor Park in February 2014, the international team were sitting in a lowly 124th place in the Fifa rankings, having not scored a goal in nearly two years.

By the time the former FA Cup winner with Wimbledon had left to take over as manager at Fulham in April 2007, Northern Ireland had risen to the heady heights of 33rd and enjoyed famous victories over England, Spain and Sweden.

The oldest player ever to win an international cap for Northern Ireland was Elisha Scott who kept goal in a 3-2 victory over Wales in Belfast on 11th March 1936 when he was aged 42 years and 200 days.

The great Pat Jennings, as everyone will remember, celebrated his 41st birthday when he won his record 119th cap at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico in the 3-0 defeat to Brazil.

There have been three other players to have turned out for Northern Ireland in their 40s - Jack Henderson, Maik Taylor and Bill McCracken.

Henderson, a goalkeeper with Ulster FC, is actually the oldest person ever to make their full international debut when he played in a 4-0 defeat to England in February 1885 when he was 40 years and 212 days. Just 42 days later he won his third and final cap when Ireland were beaten 8-2 at home by Wales.

German-born keeper Taylor made the last of his 88 appearances in a friendly defeat to Italy when he was the ripe old age of 40 years and 37 days in October 2011, while Hull City's Bill McCracken was only four days younger than Taylor when he made his last outing against Scotland in March 1923.

Distillery defender Matt Wilson's date-of-birth has never been confirmed but he is believed to have been in his 40s when he won the first of his three caps for Ireland in the space of a month in January 1884.

When Michael Smith put Michael O'Neill's side 1-0 up against Germany in Frankfurt last November, he became the 213th player to score for Northern Ireland.

The former Ballymena United and Ballyclare Comrades defender also became the first ever player from Hearts to register a goal at full international level for Northern Ireland.

In total the national side has scored 677 goals in their 648 internationals to date - 391 of those have been scored at various home venues, 263 on opponent's grounds and 23 at neutral venues.

Of the 677 goals recorded, 330 have come in the first half of matches and 347 in the second period. The 70th minute is the most frequent time for Northern Ireland to find the net in an international which they have done on no fewer than 19 occasions.

The players who have scored their milestone goals for Northern Ireland's down the years have been:

100 - Billy Gillespie (Feb 1913); 200 - Billy Simpson (May 1951); 300 - Derek Dougan (Oct 1965); 400 - Ian Stewart (Nov 1982); 500 - James Quinn (Feb 1997); 600 - Paddy McCourt (Aug 2011)

During his eight years in the hotseat Michael O'Neill used a total of 65 players in his 72 matches in charge of the national side, with an amazing 31 of those players being given an international debut.

Skipper Steven Davis missed only six of those 72 games, therefore making more appearance under O'Neill than any other player. Meanwhile defender Jonny Evans appeared in 56 matches with the retired Ollie Norwood playing in 52 games under the now Stoke City boss.

With the eligibility rule playing a massive part in international football these days, it perhaps comes as no surprise that O'Neill only ever named a starting XI in which all the players were born in Northern Ireland on three occasions - 30 May 2018 v Panama, 14 November 2012 v Azerbaijan and 11 September 2012 v Luxembourg.

Northern Ireland also went on a record 12-match unbeaten run under his leadership, which began with a 2-1 victory over Finland in March 2015 and only ending when they lost 1-0 to Poland in the opening game of the Euro 2016 finals.

The top scorers during O'Neill's tenure were Kyle Lafferty with 12, Steven Davis eight, Josh Magennis and Gareth McAuley both with seven and Niall McGinn, Jamie Ward and Conor Washington with four.