The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team.
Linfield Football Club is a professional football club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which plays in the NIFL Premiership – the highest level of the Northern Ireland Football League. The club was founded in 1886 as Linfield Athletic Club and in 1905 moved into their current home of Windsor Park, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland national team. The club's badge displays Windsor Castle, in reference to the ground's namesake.
Association football is organised on a separate basis in each of the four constituent countries that make up the United Kingdom (UK), with each having a national football association responsible for the overall management of football within their respective country. There is no United Kingdom national football team. Football has been the most popular sport in the UK since the 1860s. Rugby union, rugby league and cricket are other popular sports.
Anthony Charles Capaldi is a former footballer who made nearly 250 appearances in the Football League and is a former Northern Ireland international.
Warren James Feeney is a football manager and former Northern Ireland international footballer, who is currently manager of Welling United.
David Jeffrey is a Northern Irish football manager and former player, currently managing Ballymena United. He is best known for managing Linfield between 1997 and 2014. He began his professional playing career with the club, following a spell in the Manchester United youth team, and also played for Ards and Larne.
Sean McCarthy is a Welsh football manager, coach and former professional player who made over 500 appearances in the Football League.
James Christopher McLaughlin is a Northern Irish former footballer and was later a football manager in the League of Ireland.
Neil John Taylor is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a left-back for EFL Championship side Middlesbrough.
Charles Francis Feeney is an Irish-American businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune as a co-founder of the Hong Kong based Duty Free Shoppers Group. He is the founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the world. Feeney gave away his fortune in secret for many years, until a business dispute resulted in his identity being revealed in 1997. Feeney has given away more than $8 billion.
James McBurney Feeney was a Northern Irish professional footballer. During his career he made almost 100 appearances for Swansea City and over 200 appearances for Ipswich Town. Feeney's son and grandson, both named Warren, later represented Northern Ireland.
Thomas Roderick "Rory" Keane was an Irish footballer who spent most of his career at Swansea Town. A hard-tackling defender, he is still regarded as one of Swansea's greatest ever players. Keane was also a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams – the IFA XI and the FAI XI. Two broken legs limited his international career to just five caps and he eventually retired after breaking his leg for a third time. Keane then settled in south Wales where he lived until his death in 2004. His grandson, Jamie Harris is also a notable footballer. He began his career with Swansea City and has also played for several clubs in the League of Ireland.
Michael Gault is a Northern Irish football former player who is currently manager of Linfield F.C. Under 18's. He previously managed Mid-Ulster Football League club Ballymacash Celtic.
Lee Feeney is a Northern Irish footballer who manages Bangor F.C. in the Premier Intermediate League in Northern Ireland.
Feeney is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Kirk Steven Millar is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for NIFL Premiership side Linfield.
As the governing body of association football, FIFA is responsible for maintaining and implementing the rules that determine whether an association football player is eligible to represent a particular country in officially recognised international competitions and friendly matches. In the 20th century, FIFA allowed a player to represent any national team, as long as the player held citizenship of that country. In 2004, in reaction to the growing trend towards naturalisation of foreign players in some countries, FIFA implemented a significant new ruling that requires a player to demonstrate a "clear connection" to any country they wish to represent. FIFA has used its authority to overturn results of competitive international matches that feature ineligible players.
William McCauley Humphries, known as Billy Humphries, was a Northern Irish footballer who played as a winger. He played in the Irish League with Glentoran and Ards, and in England with Leeds United, Coventry City and Swansea Town in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He won 14 international cap for Northern Ireland. He also won three amateur caps for Northern Ireland and twelves caps for the Irish League representative team.
James Mark Bittner is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeping coach at Reading.
