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| The Ulster Banner is flown at Northern Ireland matches, although it is not the official flag of the nation. |
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| St Patrick's saltire, which was used by the IFA's all-Ireland team prior to 1950 |
Only one Bristol Rovers player has ever represented Northern Ireland while on the books at Rovers. This was Ronnie Briggs, who played for the Pirates between 1965 and 1968 and whose international career spanned the period from 1962 to 1965. Five other Northern Irish internationals have played for Rovers before or after their international career. The most capped NI player to have joined Rovers was James Quinn who has been capped over fifty times.
Although the IFA (Irish Football Association) existed before 1950, they selected players from the whole of Ireland. The Northern Ireland team as it exists now came into being in 1950 under the name 'Ireland', and the name became 'Northern Ireland' in 1953. Prior to this date the IFA and FAI (Football Association of Ireland) ran two teams representing the whole of Ireland and both called Ireland, but the FIFA congress in 1953 decreed that the names should be changed to 'Northern Ireland' and 'Republic of Ireland' to avoid confusion.
List of Northern Ireland internationals[]
A full list of Northern Irish internationals to play for Bristol Rovers is given in the table below. Only players who played for the IFA (Irish Football Association) national team after 1950 are included in this list, for pre-1950 players see Ireland. Players capped while at Rovers are shown in bold.
| Player | Caps | International years |
Rovers years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ronnie Briggs | 2 | 1962–1965 | 1965–1968 |
| Adrian Coote | 6 | 1999–2000 | 2002–2003 |
| Jeff Hughes | 2 | 2006 | 2008–2011 |
| Frank McCourt | 6 | 1951–1953 | 1949–1950 |
| James Quinn | 50 | 1996–2006 | 2001–2002 |
| Ciarán Toner | 2 | 2003 | 2001–2002 |
List of Northern Ireland teams featuring Bristol Rovers players[]
All matches featuring a current, future or former Bristol Rovers player in the Northern Ireland lineup are listed below. Only players who took part in the game are included, all unused substitutes have been left out.
- N.B. Northern Ireland's score is always given first. (Source: 11v11.com)
| Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Competition | Player(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 November 1951 |  England |
Birmingham | 0–2 | Home Championship | Frank McCourt |
| 2 | 19 March 1952 |  Wales |
Swansea | 0–3 | Home Championship | Frank McCourt |
| 3 | 4 October 1952 | England |
Belfast | 2–2 | Home Championship | Frank McCourt |
| 4 | 5 November 1952 |  Scotland |
Glasgow | 1–1 | Home Championship | Frank McCourt |
| 5 | 11 November 1952 |  France |
Paris | 1–3 | Friendly | Frank McCourt |
| 6 | 15 April 1953 |  Wales |
Belfast | 2–3 | Home Championship | Frank McCourt |
| 7 | 11 April 1962 | Wales |
Cardiff | 0–4 | Home Championship | Ronnie Briggs |
| 8 | 17 March 1965 |  The Netherlands |
Belfast | 2–1 | World Cup qualifier | Ronnie Briggs |
| 9 | 24 April 1996 |  Sweden |
Belfast | 1–2 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 10 | 14 December 1996 |  Albania |
Belfast | 2–0 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 11 | 22 January 1997 |  Italy |
Palermo | 0–2 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 12 | 11 February 1997 |  Belgium |
Belfast | 3–0 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 13 | 29 March 1997 |  Portugal |
Belfast | 0–0 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 14 | 2 April 1997 |  Ukraine |
Kiev | 1–2 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 15 | 30 April 1997 |  Armenia |
Yerevan | 0–0 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 16 | 21 May 1997 |  Thailand |
Bankok | 0–0 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 17 | 20 August 1997 |  Germany |
Belfast | 1–3 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 18 | 10 September 1997 | Albania |
Zurich | 0–1 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 19 | 25 March 1998 |  Slovakia |
Belfast | 1–0 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 20 | 22 April 1998 |  Switzerland |
Belfast | 1–0 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 21 | 5 September 1998 |  Turkey |
Istanbul | 0–3 | Euro Champs qualifier | James Quinn |
| 22 | 10 October 1998 |  Finland |
Belfast | 1–0 | Euro Champs qualifier | James Quinn |
| 23 | 27 April 1999 |  Canada |
Belfast | 1–1 | Friendly | Adrian Coote |
| 24 | 29 May 1999 |  Republic of Ireland |
Dublin | 1–0 | Friendly [a] | Adrian Coote James Quinn |
| 25 | 18 August 1999 | France |
Belfast | 0–1 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 26 | 4 September 1999 | Turkey |
Belfast | 0–3 | Euro Champs qualifier | James Quinn |
| 27 | 8 September 1999 | Germany |
Dortmund | 0–4 | Euro Champs qualifier | James Quinn |
| 28 | 9 October 1999 | Finland |
Helsinki | 1–4 | Euro Champs qualifier | Adrian Coote James Quinn |
| 29 | 23 February 2000 |  Luxembourg |
Luxembourg | 3–1 | Friendly | Adrian Coote James Quinn |
| 30 | 28 March 2000 |  Malta |
Ta' Qali | 3–0 | Friendly | Adrian Coote James Quinn |
| 31 | 26 April 2000 |  Hungary |
Belfast | 0–1 | Friendly | Adrian Coote |
| 32 | 16 August 2000 |  Yugoslavia |
Belfast | 1–2 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 33 | 2 June 2001 |  Bulgaria |
Belfast | 0–1 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 34 | 6 June 2001 |  Czech Republic |
Prague | 1–3 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 35 | 6 October 2001 | Malta |
Ta' Qali | 1–0 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 36 | 21 August 2002 |  Cyprus |
Belfast | 0–0 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 37 | 12 February 2003 | Finland |
Belfast | 0–1 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 38 | 29 March 2003 | Armenia |
Yerevan | 0–1 | Euro Champs qualifier | James Quinn |
| 39 | 2 April 2003 |  Greece |
Belfast | 0–2 | Euro Champs qualifier | James Quinn |
| 40 | 3 June 2003 | Italy |
Campobasso | 0–2 | Friendly | Ciarán Toner |
| 41 | 11 June 2003 |  Spain |
Belfast | 0–0 | Euro Champs qualifier | Ciarán Toner |
| 42 | 28 April 2004 | Serbia & Montenegro |
Belfast | 1–1 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 43 | 30 May 2004 |  Barbados |
Bridgetown | 1–1 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 44 | 6 June 2004 |  Trinidad & Tobago |
Bacolet | 3–0 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 45 | 4 September 2004 |  Poland |
Belfast | 0–3 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 46 | 8 September 2004 | Wales |
Cardiff | 2–2 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 47 | 9 October 2004 |  Azerbaijan |
Baku | 0–0 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 48 | 13 October 2004 |  Austria |
Belfast | 3–3 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 49 | 30 March 2005 | Poland |
Warsaw | 0–1 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 50 | 17 August 2005 | Malta |
Ta' Qali | 1–1 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 51 | 3 September 2005 | Azerbaijan |
Belfast | 2–0 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 52 | 7 September 2005 | England |
Belfast | 1–0 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 53 | 8 October 2005 | Wales |
Belfast | 2–3 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 54 | 12 October 2005 | Austria |
Vienna | 0–2 | World Cup qualifier | James Quinn |
| 55 | 15 November 2005 | Portugal |
Belfast | 1–1 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 56 | 1 March 2006 |  Estonia |
Belfast | 1–0 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 57 | 21 May 2006 |  Uruguay |
New York | 0–1 | Friendly | James Quinn Jeff Hughes |
| 58 | 26 May 2006 |  Romania |
Chicago | 0–2 | Friendly | James Quinn Jeff Hughes |
| 59 | 16 August 2006 | Finland |
Helsinki | 2–1 | Friendly | James Quinn |
| 60 | 2 September 2006 |  Iceland |
Belfast | 0–3 | Euro Champs qualifier | James Quinn |
| 61 | 6 September 2006 | Spain |
Belfast | 3–2 | Euro Champs qualifier | James Quinn |
| 62 | 11 October 2006 |  Latvia |
Belfast | 1–0 | Euro Champs qualifier | James Quinn |
[a] Charity match arranged to raise funds following the Omagh bombing in 1998.