Windsor Park in 93 - Niall Quinn on Alan McDonald by
TacticalR 15 Nov 2014 14:37This was on Off the Ball on Wednesday night during the discussion of Republic of Ireland's game with Northern Ireland at Windsor Park in 93:
Niall Quinn: If you remember the incident that happened just before the game, the atrocity, some terrorists came into a pub watching a game on Halloween and said to the crowd 'Trick or Treat?' and then shot a load of Irish fans, and that happened maybe a week or so before the game. That was difficult because to think football had any place in all that was frightening and still chills me to this day. The toughest memory I have in football is listening to the crowd in Northern Ireland sing 'Trick or Treat?' while we're playing on the pitch shortly after that incident. I'm sure it's been said that the Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham wasn't trying to stop that by any stretch of the imagination, and it was a real tough time, and we qualified for the World Cup on the most extraordinary of evenings, and we came through this, and Alan (McLoughlin) speaks well in his book about the way up to the ground and the British soldiers and the kids who we thought were going to be like all kids and look for autographs...and actually it was like the military. They kneeled down in the front row and pretended they had guns. It was the horriblest thing. And of course there were armoured cars bringing us in. It stayed with me for a long time. But a man who's passed away since changed everything for me that night. And that was Alan McDonald. He was the captain of Northern Ireland. He was from a very tough Unionist part of Belfast. And he came into our dressing room and broke down the barriers that everybody else was afraid to go near. He wished us well at the World Cup finals. He was a proud Irish islander. He strengthened me that night to understand what sport can do.
Ger: After the game?
Niall Quinn: After the game. We'd got through, Denmark had failed to beat Spain, and we were all watching it on a monitor. We went into the dressing room afterwards. We didn't know whether to be happy because of the atrocities that had happened. It was an awful atmosphere all night. And Alan McDonald came in and he gave a speech. He didn't just say 'well done'. And that was the moment I knew that sport can beat everything.
There's a bit more background if you listen to the first ten minutes or so of the show.
http://www.newstalk.ie/player/podcasts/Off_The_Ball/The_Off_the_Ball_Football_Show/69042/1/windsor_park_in_93_and_a_damp_martin_oneill