Way back in the 1960s, I attended a few football matches at Windsor Park. In my defence, I was much too younf to understand the significance of it all and anyway the mid 1960s was kinda peaceful. I was on the Spion Kop when George Best tortured Celtic and Scotland player Tommy Gemmell. I was on the Spion Kop when George Best was ruled to have kicked the ball out of the hands of England’s goalkeeper, Gordon Banks.

I didnt set foot in Windsor Park from about 1969 until I took my son (then eight years old) to see Norn Iron play Romania or was it Bulgaria in 1994. Which one did Georgi Hadji play for? Anyway he got sent off that night. And I have not been back since. Neither has he.

We are often invited to revel in that night in Spain in World Cup 1982. Gerry Armstrong. Billy Hamilton…..Jackie Fullerton. I cant say that I remember much about 1982. I was engaged to the lady who is now my wife. And I really did not care about Norn Iron or its football team. Any residual affection that I had for the days of George Best, Derek Dougan, Willie Irvine, Sammy Todd had long gone.

Of course TV hyped it all up as a great unifying factor…..out on the streets people were killing each other but hey we had a football team. Somehow as the lessons of the 1981 Hunger Strike took root….the affection that we were invited to have for the Norn Iron of 1982….did not transfer to the team of 1986 which also qualified for the World Cup.

Of course the decline of the ability and support for the Norn Iron team was directly related to the rise in ability and affection for the (Republic of) Ireland team. The Norn Iron football fans …or rather a proportion of them made Windsor Park a cold place for “nationalists”. The Norn Iron football authorities had missed the opportunity (if any) provided by the goodwill of 1982.

Effectively the boo-ing of Anton Rogan and Neil Lennon alienated nationalists, now happily watching the Republic on satellite TV and buying Republic shirts in Lifestyle. No effort was needed to support the Republic. As their team declined, Norn Iron fans circled the wagons revelling in the fact that they “were not Brazil…..we’re Northern Ireland” which is a variation on the chant “we are sh** and we know we are”.

Of course even bad teams get good results. David Healy got the goal that beat England. But on the night that the Republic of Ireland beat Norn Iron to seal qualification for the World Cup Finals in 1994… on a toxic sectarian night  at Windsor Park……the damage was already done. Norn Iron had squandered any hope of reaching out to Catholics. And the exodus of Catholic players to play for the Republic……despite the ill-advised legal action of Norn Irons football administrators cannot be reversed.

To my knowledge, I have only been to a rugby match at Ravenhill once…..1970 Ulster versus Munster. As I recall Ulster won but my abiding memory is of Munster and Ireland prop Fightin’ Phil O’Callaghan going on a GAA style solo run along the touchline.

Before I retired (2005), it was a common enough sight to see young QUB students wear Ulster Rugby tops or indeed GAA county shirts. I think it was as much about identifying as a unionist or a nationalist as it was about genuine identification with the Ulster Rugby team….or Tyrone GAA team. Seemingly “soccer” shirts are a bit too common.

When Ulster won the European Championship in Dublin several years ago, there was a mass exodus of the Ulster Rugby supporters to Dublin. Many carried Norn Iron “flags”.

At the weekend Ulster play Leinster in London…..that European Championship. I am a bit wary of “Stand Up For The Ulstermen” but within a decade, it is clear that a lot of Catholics are prepared to accept Ulster Rugby in a way that they cannot accept Norn Iron Football.

Perhaps it is the middle class nature of Rugby, which does not tolerate overt shows of sectarianism. Or the fact that Ulster is  “nine county”  or has always been a component part in Irish Rugby. Or perhaps it is the simple fact that Ulster is a “province” with which we can all identify but Norn Iron is a so-called “nation” with which we cannot all identify.

Of course we can all identify with Success. And Ulster Rugby is successful in a way that Norn Iron Football can never be again.

But surely the writing is on the wall for Norn Iron. Scotland and Wales are thinking of a joint bid to host the European Football Championships. It is possible that they will be joined in the submission by…..the Republic of Ireland.

Norn Iron only exists on the Field of Sport. Barely in the Football World. Barely in the Commonwealth Games. Its best hope is the Rugby ethos and the compromise witha  nine county Ulster which brings Catholics on board.