The 2011 Nations Cup (also known as the Carling Nations Cup after its headline sponsor) was a
round-robin football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
tournament between the
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
,
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, and
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
national teams.
The first set of two games were played in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
in February, with the remaining four games played in May 2011.
It was won by the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
, who won all three of their games without conceding a goal.
History
The
first international association football match was played between
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, two of the
Home Nations of the United Kingdom, in 1872. The remaining two Home Nations,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
and
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
both played their first matches within the following decade, in 1876 and 1882 respectively. The first meetings between the sides were
friendlies until they were organised to form the
British Home Championship
The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...
, the first international football tournament, for the
1883–84 season. The competition continued for 100 years, although it was not held during the First or Second World War, before being abolished in 1984 due to claims of fading interest and low crowds.
Calls for the return of the a competition between the Home Nations had been sporadically raised since the end of the British Home Championship with varying degrees of success, but the idea gained widespread attention in 2006 when Northern Ireland manager
Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrence Sanchez (born 22 October 1959) is a football manager and former international footballer for Northern Ireland.
The defining moment of his playing career came in the 1988 FA Cup final, when he scored the winning goal for Wimbledon aga ...
called for its return.
In 2007, the national football associations of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland met with Wales raising a proposal to revive a Home Nations tournament in the form of a "Celtic Cup" in response to the failure of any British side to qualify for
UEFA Euro 2008
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...
. However, the plan was ultimately delayed due to fixture congestion with
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixtures already being in place.
The competition was officially announced in September the following year with the tournament scheduled to be held in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
between February and May 2011. England chose to turn down the chance to take part in the competition citing fixture congestion.
The
Football Association of Wales
The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...
stated its belief in 2007 that England might have joined at a later date if they could have been convinced that there were "practical solutions" to problems like fixture congestion.
It was announced on 12 August 2010, that the tournament would be sponsored by brewing company
Carling, and known for sponsorship reasons as the Carling Nations Cup.
A second tournament was provisionally scheduled to take place in Wales in 2013.
The 2011 Nations Cup began in February 2011 at the
Aviva Stadium
Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...
in Dublin. The Republic of Ireland won the inaugural tournament after winning all three of their matches, culminating with a 1–0 win over Scotland on the final matchday. It was originally intended to be a biennial tournament, but poor attendance at the first tournament meant that it was discontinued.
Format
The Nations Cup plan initially proposed the tournament would be played as a knockout competition, with the semi-finals being played in August and the final and third-place playoff being played the following February.
However, the competition was eventually structured as a
round-robin, with each team playing each of the others once, resulting in a total of six games in each season of the competition.
Three of the teams involved (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) had formerly competed in the now defunct British Home Championship, along with England.
The matches in the 2011 tournament were played in February and May, with the location due to rotate on a tournament-by-tournament basis.
Brittany
Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
also expressed an interest in taking part.
Venue
The newly rebuilt
Aviva Stadium
Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...
was chosen to host all six games of the 2011 tournament.
Referees
* Tomás Connolly
* Mark Courtney
* Raymond Crangle
*
Alan Kelly
*
Craig Thomson
* Mark Whitby
Summary
Matchday one
Republic of Ireland v Wales
The opening match of the competition was played on 8 February 2011 in front of more than 19,000 spectators and featured tournament hosts the Republic of Ireland and Wales. The match was
Gary Speed
Gary Andrew Speed (8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011) was a Welsh professional footballer and manager. As manager of Wales, Speed is often credited as being the catalyst for the change in fortunes of the national team and as setting t ...
's first fixture in charge of Wales since his appointment as manager in December 2010. Ireland nearly took an early lead when
Damien Duff
Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player. He is the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C., Shelbourne.
He began his pro ...
struck the post within the opening five minutes of the game. Wales were denied a penalty by referee Mark Courtney when
Hal Robson-Kanu went down in the Ireland penalty box under pressure from
Séamus Coleman in a first half that was described by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' as "tame and error-strewn".
Ireland registered a number of chances early in the second half before
Darron Gibson scored the tournament's opening goal when he played a
one-two One-two, 1-2, 1 & 2 or 1+2 may refer to:
Sports
* Push and run, in association football
* One-two combo, in boxing
Music
* '' One, Two'', album by Sister Nancy
* ''1 + 2'' (album), album by Recoil
* ''Volumes 1 & 2'' (The Desert Sessions albu ...
with
Glen Whelan before scoring from 25 yards. Duff added a second seven minutes later with his first international goal for five years before
Keith Fahey scored his side's third goal in the final ten minutes with a 20-yard free-kick.
Northern Ireland v Scotland
Northern Ireland and Scotland met a day after the opening match, attracting a crowd of more than 18,000. Scotland midfielder
Scott Brown suffered an injury in the warm-up leading to his withdrawal from the starting line-up. When the match began, Northern Ireland enjoyed the brighter start as
Niall McGinn saw a shot saved by opposition goalkeeper
Allan McGregor
Allan James McGregor (born 31 January 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer and current goalkeeping coach at Rangers. McGregor has previously played for Rangers, St Johnstone, Dunfermline Athletic, Turkish team Beşiktaş, Engli ...
However, Scotland soon took control of the match and
Kenny Miller, captaining Scotland for the first time in his career, gave his side the lead after 19 minutes after a corner fell to him a yard from the goalline. The goal was the first Scotland had scored in an away fixture since December 2009.
Scotland applied further pressure;
Steven Caldwell hit the crossbar with a header and
Kris Commons' shot was cleared off the goalline before
James McArthur
James McFarlane McArthur (born 7 October 1987) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central midfielder.
McArthur started his career at Hamilton Academical F.C., Hamil ...
, Brown's late replacement in the side, added a second goal after 31 minutes. In the opening minutes of the second half, Scotland scored a third goal via Commons. The match ended in a 3–0 victory for Scotland, matching Ireland's opening result and recording the biggest away victory for the Scots in more than five years.
Matchday two
Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland
The second round of fixtures began with a fixture between the Republic of Ireland and neighbouring Northern Ireland on 24 May. A row between the two nations over player eligibility, brought on by two Northern Irish youth internationals changing allegiances in the lead up to the fixture, lead to a boycott of the match by fans of the side with only around 200 travelling to the game. Although Northern Ireland started well, the Republic took the lead shortly before half-time through debutant
Stephen Ward after an error by opposition goalkeeper
Alan Blayney. Republic striker
Robbie Keane
Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional football coach and former player who played as a striker and is currently the head coach of Ferencváros. Keane served as captain of the Republic of Ireland from March 2006 until h ...
capitalised on another defensive error shortly afterwards, intercepting a pass by
Lee Hodson before converting. The Republic added a third before half time when Northern Ireland defender
Craig Cathcart
Craig George Cathcart (born 6 February 1989) is a Northern Irish former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. He played for the Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland national team, and Cap ...
turned a cross into his own net.
Early in the second half, a poor clearance by Blayney led to
Adam Thompson conceding a penalty following a foul on Keane. Thompson received the only red card of the Nations Cup for his foul, despite Keane calling for leniency from referee
Craig Thomson. Keane converted the resulting penalty for his second goal of the game. Another debutant,
Simon Cox, scored a fifth for the Republic with ten minutes remaining. The five goal deficit was the largest margin of victory ever recorded by the Republic over Northern Ireland and was the Republic's largest victory since a win over
San Marino
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...
by the same scoreline in 2006.
Wales v Scotland
Matchday three
Wales v Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland v Scotland
Standings
Goalscorers
;3 goals
*
Robbie Keane
Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional football coach and former player who played as a striker and is currently the head coach of Ferencváros. Keane served as captain of the Republic of Ireland from March 2006 until h ...
;2 goals
*
Kenny Miller
*
Robert Earnshaw
;1 goal
*
Christophe Berra
*
Kris Commons
*
Simon Cox
*
Damien Duff
Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player. He is the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C., Shelbourne.
He began his pro ...
*
Keith Fahey
*
Darron Gibson
*
James McArthur
James McFarlane McArthur (born 7 October 1987) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central midfielder.
McArthur started his career at Hamilton Academical F.C., Hamil ...
*
James Morrison
*
Aaron Ramsey
*
Stephen Ward
;1 goal (
own goal
An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net.
In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...
)
*
Craig Cathcart
Craig George Cathcart (born 6 February 1989) is a Northern Irish former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. He played for the Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland national team, and Cap ...
(for )
Media coverage
Every match of the tournament was shown live on
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
(also on
Sky 3D), with the
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
matches simulcasted live with
Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...
commentary on
S4C
S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...
.
* and :
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
**:
RTÉ
(; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
(Highlights of all matches)
**:
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
BBC Northern Ireland is one of the four BB ...
(Highlights of Northern Irish matches only)
**:
S4C
S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...
(Welsh matches only)
Aftermath
Criticism
The
Football Association of Ireland
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland.
Organisation
The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...
was criticised by the media, supporters and other football associations for setting high ticket prices. The 51,700-capacity
Aviva Stadium
Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...
was less than half-full for all of the games. The game between Wales and Northern Ireland was attended by only 529 fans, many of whom were Scots who happened to be in Dublin for their country's game two days later.
During the game between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, Republic fans booed "
God Save the Queen
"God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...
", and Northern Ireland fans booed the President of Ireland,
Mary McAleese
Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, ...
, as she greeted players before the game. Northern Ireland fans were criticised for singing
sectarian
Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism a ...
chants at games.
Scotland fans also booed "God Save the Queen", when playing Northern Ireland.
Wales manager Gary Speed criticised the tournament organisers for scheduling Wales' games to be within three days of each other, the only team to suffer such timing. He also criticised the officiating in the game against Scotland, in which in his opinion several fouls on Welsh players went unpunished.
Future tournaments
After the first tournament, which attracted some small attendances, there was a dispute about the division of revenues between the four associations.
In early 2011, it was reported by
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...
that there was a possibility of the British Home Championship being revived in 2013,
but no tournament was held. Jim Shaw, the president of the
Irish Football Association
The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became t ...
, said in January 2012 that he did not envisage a second tournament being staged.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nations Cup 2011
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
Nations
A nation is a type of social organization where a collective identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, territory, or societ ...
Nations
A nation is a type of social organization where a collective identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, territory, or societ ...
Nations
A nation is a type of social organization where a collective identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, territory, or societ ...
Nations
A nation is a type of social organization where a collective identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, territory, or societ ...
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
Defunct international association football competitions in Europe
International men's association football invitational tournaments