NEXT month both Irish soccer teams will bid to make the FIFA World Cup later this year in North America.

If the talks that took place between the Irish Football Association (IFA) and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) during the height of the Troubles in the 1970s had succeeded, there would be one united international team from the island bidding to do so.

Those talks took place in earnest from 1973 to 1980.

The attempts to bring about an all-Ireland team in many ways were a player-led initiative, with prominent names such as George Best, Derek Dougan and John Giles all calling for one team on the island.

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An all-Ireland team, organised by Dougan and Giles, took to the field in the guise of a Shamrock Rovers XI who played against the world champions Brazil in a thrilling encounter at Lansdowne Road in July 1973, with the Brazilians winning by four goals to three.

Although not supported by the IFA or FAI, the match did prompt the FAI to contact its northern counterpart to discuss the possibility of re-unifying.

Soccer in Ireland had been governed by the IFA in Belfast on an all-Ireland basis from 1880 to 1921.

In 1921 the Leinster Football Association seceded from the IFA, with the FAI established later that year.

The IFA unanimously agreed to meet the FAI and talks that had not taken place since 1932 between both associations begun again.

The........

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