Celtic vs Irish Free State XI: The Highest Paid Football Experts in the World

On 23.02.24 a warmly received Glasgow Celtic played a hastily arranged friendly against an Irish Free State XI in Dublin. Celtic won 3-0. There was a 20,000 crowd that spilled onto the pitch and perched on the roofs of stands.  

The match was a fundraiser to help send an Irish Free State team to that summer's Olympics. Takings were £1,200, which , after tax, expenses and  paying for the ground left £400 for the fund. 

Acknowledging the efforts of the outplayed home team, the Dublin Evening Telegraph stated 'They were opposed by what probably the best football on earth, the highest paid football experts in the world'. 

Irish Free State FA		Celtic
W. O’Hagan (Fordsons)	G	C. Shaw
P. Kavanagh (Shelbourne)	FB	A. McNair
J. McCarthy (Bohemians)	FB	H Hilley
E. McKay (St. James’s Gate)	HB	H. P. Wilson
V. Harris (Shelbourne)	HB	J. McStay
M. Foley (Shelbourne)	HB	J. McFarlane
J. Simpson (Shelbourne)	F	A. McAtee
A. Kirkland (Shamrock Rovers)	F	P. Gallacher
Dr. O’Flaherty (University College)	F	J. Cassidy
J. Dowdall (St. James’s Gate)	F	A. Thompson
J. Fagan (Shamrock Rovers)	F	A. McLean

Goals were scored by Thomson, McAtee and Cassidy (all Scotland internationalists).

The Celtic line up featured Irish international Patsy Gallacher, who would later represent the Free State.

There was talk of another Celtic visit to Ireland in May, when Croke Park was proposed as a (much larger) venue, but this never took place. 

Andy McAtee

Alec 'EverReady' Thomson 

'Trooper' Joe Cassidy

Ireland v Italy 1927

Having played 3 matches at the  Olympics, in June 1924 The Irish Free State entertained the USA in Dublin. These matches are frequently omitted from the list of internationals played by the Republic of Ireland.
In March 1926 The Irish Free State were beaten 3-0 by a strong Italian side in Turin.
The programme pictured above is for the 'return' match.
This was not considered a full international by the Italians, and the side was designated as Italy B (or Nazionale Cadetti). It was a decent side however, and all 11 starters would in time become full internationals.

GK	Frank Collins	Jacobs
FB	Frank Brady  c	Shamrock Rovers
FB	Alec Kirkland	Fordsons
HB	William Glen	Shamrock Rovers
HB	Michael O`Brien	Derby County
HB	Thomas Muldoon	Aston Villa
F	Bill Lacey	Shelbourne
F	Harry Duggan	Leeds United
F	Christopher Martin	Bo`ness
F	Bob Fullam	Shamrock Rovers
F	Joe Kendrick	Everton

               

GK	Mario Gianni	Bologna
FB	Mario Zanello	Pro Vercelli
FB	Delfo Bellini	Genoa
HB	Pietro Genovesi	Bologna
HB	Luigi Burlando	Genoa
HB	Alberto Giordani	Bologna
F	Federico Munerati	Juventus
F	Antonio Vojak	Juventus
F	Pietro Pastore	Milan
F	Enrico Rivolta	Internazionale
F	Luigi Cevenini c	Juventus
Sub.	Gianangelo Barzan (Milan) replaced Zanello

Bob Fulam and Federico Munerati were the goalscorers as Italy won 2-1 watched by an crowd of approximately 20,000.

Ireland

Up until 1922 Ireland was one country, but a colony of the United Kingdom. 
The Ireland teams up until that time were theoretically All- Ireland teams, though in practice football was first popularized and later centred on the North Eastern part of the country in what later became Northern Ireland (Belfast in particular).
When the Irish Football Association was formed in 1880 the member clubs were Belfast based.
Ireland made their International debut in 1882, losing 13-0 to England. They remained the whipping-boys of the British international scene for a number of years. After conceding 27- 1 in their first three outings they secured a 1-1 draw with Wales in March 1883, but their first win didn't come until 1887 in their 16th international game. In 1903 Ireland shared the British Home championship with England and Scotland (beating Wales and Scotland in the process but losing 4-0 to England) and won it outright in 1914. Their first victory against England came in 1913, a feat they repeated in their Championship season.


In the latter part of the 19th century Irish footballers began to make their mark as professionals in the north of England and Scotland.

Eight of the XI that defeated England in 1913 were based with English clubs.winners 16 players featured in The 1914 Championship matches- 8 based with English clubs, 2 with Scottish clubs and 6 Irish (2 Dublin and 4 Belfast)
Following the partition of Ireland and the move towards independence in the south the FAI was formed in Dublin in September 1921. There had been disputes regarding the perceived Belfast bias of the IFA.

Both the IFA and the FAI selected 'all Ireland' teams during the next two decades. The IFA selection was the one that continued to play as 'Ireland' in the British Home Championships.  The FAI was recognized by FIFA (none of the British football associations were affiliated to FIFA at this time), and as such were permitted to enter international tournaments. Consequently the team that we now know as The Republic of Ireland made it's international debut as The Irish Free State in the 1924 Olympics.