When Ireland took to the field for their first international match against England in 1882 they were captained by JM McAlery, a key figure in the foundation of the Irish FA.
Amongst the captains employed by (Northern) Ireland since 1882:
(decade in which they first captained team)
1880s - JM McAlery, DC Martin, JR Davison, WL Eames, J Watson, J Hastings, JT Gibb, S Gillespie, OM Stanfield.
1890s - AR Elleman, RK Stewart, A Crawford, S Spencer, RWW Gordon, JM Small, S Torrans, RG Milne, TH Jordan, JC Fitzpatrick, H Gordon, JH Barron, J Ponsonby, G McMaster, JC Campbell, M Cochrane, WK Gibson, JC McAllen, J Lewis.
1900s - GF Sheehan, J McShane, AL Goodall, P Boyle, J Kirwan, HA Sloan, J Wright, W Scott, AB Craig, V Harris.
1910s - E McConnell, P O'Connell, W Lacey.
1920s - W Emerson, W McCracken, R McCracken.
1930s - W Cook.
1940s - PD Doherty, A Stevenson, J Vernon, J Carey, CJ Martin.
1950s - RD Blanchflower.
1960s - WT Neill, WL Bingham, A Elder, M Harvey.
1970s - AD Dougan, D Clements, A Hunter, B Hamilton, P Jennings.
Northern Ireland Captains 1980-date:
Captain
|
Span
|
First Match
|
Pl
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
.GD.
|
Win %
|
Pts %
|
W/L
|
1980-1984
|
26/3/80
|
33
|
12
|
11
|
10
|
29
|
34
|
-5
|
36.4%
|
47.5%
|
2
| |
1980-1986
|
16/5/80
|
19
|
7
|
7
|
5
|
15
|
15
|
0
|
36.8%
|
49.1%
|
2
| |
1984-1990
|
16/10/84
|
17
|
4
|
5
|
8
|
15
|
21
|
-6
|
23.5%
|
33.3%
|
-4
| |
1987
|
14/10/87
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
-3
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
-1
| |
1988-1989
|
22/3/88
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
6
|
-4
|
0.0%
|
11.1%
|
-2
| |
1989-1994
|
26/5/89
|
8
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
13
|
12
|
1
|
50.0%
|
50.0%
|
0
| |
1990-1995
|
18/5/90
|
26
|
8
|
8
|
10
|
28
|
29
|
-1
|
30.8%
|
41.0%
|
-2
| |
1993-1997
|
8/9/93
|
10
|
4
|
2
|
4
|
17
|
14
|
3
|
40.0%
|
46.7%
|
0
| |
1994-1997
|
16/11/94
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
-4
|
0.0%
|
16.7%
|
-1
| |
1996-1999
|
31/8/96
|
10
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
7
|
10
|
-3
|
30.0%
|
43.3%
|
0
| |
1997
|
2/4/97
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
-1
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
-1
| |
1997-2001
|
20/8/97
|
7
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
10
|
11
|
-1
|
28.6%
|
33.3%
|
-2
| |
1997-2003
|
10/9/97
|
22
|
5
|
6
|
11
|
14
|
26
|
-12
|
22.7%
|
31.8%
|
-6
| |
1999-2001
|
8/9/99
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
8
|
-7
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
-3
| |
1999
|
10/10/99
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
-3
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
-1
| |
2000-2001
|
26/4/00
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
-5
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
-2
| |
2002-
|
17/4/02
|
45
|
12
|
17
|
16
|
45
|
54
|
-9
|
26.7%
|
39.3%
|
-4
| |
2002
|
21/8/02
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0.0%
|
33.3%
|
0
| |
2003
|
11/10/03
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
-1
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
-1
| |
2004-2011
|
31/3/04
|
15
|
4
|
4
|
7
|
13
|
19
|
-6
|
26.7%
|
35.6%
|
-3
| |
2006-date
|
21/5/06
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
-4
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
-3
| |
2006
|
16/8/06
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
100.0%
|
100.0%
|
1
| |
2007-2011
|
08/9/07
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
6
|
-1
|
25.0%
|
25.0%
|
-2
| |
2009
|
28/3/09
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
5
|
-2
|
50.0%
|
50.0%
|
0
| |
2010-2011
|
26/5/10
|
5
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
8
|
-7
|
20.0%
|
20.0%
|
-3
| |
2010-
|
26/5/10
|
5
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
8
|
-7
|
20.0%
|
20.0%
|
-3
| |
2012
2015- |
2/6/12
25/3/15 |
1
- |
0
- |
0
- |
1
- |
0
- |
6
- |
-6
- |
0.0%
-% |
0.0%
-% |
-1
- | |
246
|
69
|
69
|
108
|
223
|
316
|
-83
|
28.2%
|
37.6%
|
-37
|
Players in highlighted were considered "regular/first choice" captains. Highlighted in blue are the players that have captained the team at major tournaments.
* First appointed captain to mark landmark cap
** Appointed captain at short notice after Neil Lennon withdrew due to a death threat.
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