Captains Terry Neill (left) and Bobby Moore,
May 15, 1971, Windsor Park, Belfast. England won, 1-0.
They were the captains again a year later.
May 23, 1972: The national football (soccer) team of Northern Ireland beat England, 1-0 at Wembley Stadium in London, as part of the British Home Championship games. The goal is scored by centreback Terry Neill, who was also the Ulstermen’s manager at the time, playing his club football for Hull City in England, previously playing for Arsenal player. He would later manage Arsenal as well.
In addition to Neill, the team consisted of goalkeeper Pat Jennings from Tottenham Hotspur, and right back Pat Rice and left back Sammy Nelson from Arsenal, all of who would play for Neill on Arsenal and win the 1979 FA Cup; centre-half Allan Hunter of Ipswich Town; left have David Clements of Coventry City; centre-forward Derek Dougan and outside right Daniel Hegan, both of Wolverhampton Wanderers; inside right Alex McMordie of Middlesbrough; inside left Willie Irvine of Brighton & Hove Albion; and outside left Tommy Jackson of Nottingham Forest.
Despite having recently been considered by some to be the best player in the world, being a native of Belfast, and having previously played for the Norther Ireland team, Neill did not select Manchester United superstar George Best for the Home Championship.
Coming just 4 months after "Bloody Sunday" in Derry, this was a huge boost to the people of Northern Ireland. It showed them, and just as importantly showed England, that they could beat them at their own game, on their own soil.
On May 20, England had beaten Wales, 3-0 at Ninian Park in Cardiff, while Scotland had beaten Northern Ireland 2-0 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, with both goals coming in the last 5 minutes of regular time. This game should have been played at a place of Northern Ireland's choosing, as each team played 3 games, and got 1 home game. Most likely, it would have been at Windsor Park in Belfast. But death threats mailed in led to the game being moved. The 1972 Five Nations Rugby Championship (precursor to today's Six Nations) was also canceled.
Northern Ireland then beat England on May 23. On May 24, Scotland beat Wales, 1-0 at Hampden, on a 78th minute goal by Leeds United star Peter Lorimer.
And on May 27, England beat Scotland, 1-0 at Hampden, on a goal in the 28th minute by Alan Ball, then with Arsenal; while Northern Ireland could only manage a 0-0 draw with Wales at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. With 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw, England ended up winning the tournament, anyway, with 4 points, and a superior goal difference to Scotland, also with 4. Northern Ireland had 3, and Wales had 1.
Had Best been selected, a goal he scored or set up against Wales would have given Northern Ireland the tournament. But his disciplinary issues meant that his not being selected by Neill was his own fault.
*
May 23, 1972 was a Tuesday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 3-0 at Yankee Stadium. Gaylord Perry pitched a 4-hit shutout, outpitching Mel Stottlemyre. Rich McKinney, the guy who was supposed to be the answer to the Yankees' 3rd base problem, got 2 of those 4 hits. After this failed season, he would be dumped for Graig Nettles, who went 0-for-3 with a walk for the Indians in this game.
* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 2-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Gary Gentry had a nice start for the Mets, but in the bottom of the 8th inning, Tug McGraw gave up a single to Carmen Fanzone and a double to Paul Popovich. Fergie Jenkins went the distance for the win. Popovich and Glenn Beckert each got 3 hits for the Cubs. For the Mets, Rusty Staub went 4-for-4 with their only RBI. The newly-acquired Willie Mays did not play.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at Jarry Park in Montreal.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. Rico Petrocelli singled Reggie Smith home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Smith and Tommy Harper had hit home runs earlier. Carl Yastrzemski did not play. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-4.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Phil Niekro went the distance, and won the game himself with a home run. Hank Aaron went 0-for-3, but drew 2 walks. Pete Rose went 1-for-4. Johnny Bench went 0-for-2, then drew a walk, and was removed for a pinch-runner.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Jim Lonborg pitched a 4-hit shutout, outpitching Joe Coleman Jr. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Willie Stargell went 0-for-5. Lou Brock went 1-for-5.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 2-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Houston Astros swept a doubleheader from the San Diego Padres, 7-0 and 2-1 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Tom Griffin pitched a 4-hit shutout in the opener.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 8-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Don Sutton went the distance for the win. Frank Robinson, in his only season with the Dodgers hit the 507th and 508th home runs of his career. Willie McCovey did not play.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the California Angels, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Reggie Jackson won it with a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning, off Eddie Fisher. (Maybe the Angels should have started Dean Martin instead.) It ruined a nice start for Angel pitcher Rickey Clark, and made a winning pitcher out of Rollie Fingers in relief of John "Blue Moon" Odom.
* And the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins were rained out at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 8. The Royals swept, 5-0 and 3-2. Tom Murphy pitched a 6-hit shutout in the 1st game, outpitching Bert Blyleven.
Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 with a walk in the 1st game, and drew a walk as a pinch-hitter in the 2nd game. Over the 2 games, Rod Carew went 2-for-7 with an RBI.
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