League of Ireland XI
| Association | Football Association of Ireland |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Damien Richardson 2010- |
| Home stadium |
Dalymount Park 1924–1987 Aviva Stadium 2010– |
| First international | |
 League of Ireland XI 3–3 Welsh Football League XI  , (Dalymount Park, Ireland; 19 February 1924) |
|
| Biggest defeat | |
 Scottish Football League XI 11–0 League of Ireland XI , (Celtic Park, Glasgow; 28 November 1962) |
|
The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the Airtricity League XI for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its history, the League of Ireland XI has effectively acted as a reserve or B team to the senior Republic of Ireland national team, providing international representative honours to home-based players. In fact it has played considerably more games than the actual Republic of Ireland B national football team. In addition to playing regular games against similar representative teams, such as the Irish League XI, the Scottish Football League XI and the Football League XI, the League of Ireland XI has also played in prestige friendlies against the full national teams of both Argentina and Brazil. The League of Ireland XI also represented Ireland in the qualifying stages of the 1988 Olympic Football Tournament. More recently a League of Ireland U-23 XI has represented the Republic of Ireland in the International Challenge Trophy. Meanwhile, a senior team with no age or nationality restriction regularly plays visiting club sides. More recently the team competed in the 2011 Dublin Super Cup
During the 1920s and 1930s, the four national associations that made up the International Football Association Board (IFAB)– The Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales and Northern Ireland's Irish Football Association – refused to recognise the rights of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) when it came arranging full internationals. Consequently, the FAI could not arrange full internationals against its nearest neighbours. The IFAB, however, did permit inter-league games to be played. In the absence of full internationals against England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, these inter-league matches between the League of Ireland XI, the Irish League XI, the Welsh Football League XI and the Scottish Football League XI were highly regarded by both the FAI and Irish football fans alike. Attendances of up to 30,000 at these matches at Dalymount Park led them to have been treated almost as full internationals.
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