Republic of Ireland national B football team
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| Nickname(s) | The Boys in Green |
|---|---|
| Association | Football Association of Ireland |
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) |
| Head coach | Pat Devlin |
| Captain | Alex Bruce |
| Top scorer | Christy Doyle Daryl Clare David Kelly Jackie Hennessy Neale Fenn Niall Quinn (all 2 goals each) |
| Home stadium |
Dalymount Park Lansdowne Road Tolka Park Turner's Cross Carlisle Grounds |
| FIFA code | IRL |
| First international | |
 Republic of Ireland B 1 - 0 Romania B  (Dalymount Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland; October 20, 1957) |
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| Biggest win | |
Republic of Ireland B 4 - 1 England B  (Turner's Cross, Cork, Republic of Ireland; March 27, 1990) |
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| Biggest defeat | |
|
England B 2 - 0 Republic of Ireland B (Anfield, Liverpool, England; December 1, 1994) |
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Republic of Ireland B is the reserve team of the Republic of Ireland national football team. There are no competitions for B teams. However, since 1957 the Football Association of Ireland has arranged occasional friendlies.
The FAI first introduced B internationals during the 1950s. In an era when League of Ireland players were getting fewer opportunities to break into the senior team, these games were seen as a chance for these players to gain some international experience. The Republic of Ireland B played their first game on October 20, 1957 at Dalymount Park against Romania B. They held the visitors to a 1-1 draw. Three days later, on October 23, the Romanians lost 6-0 to a Northern Ireland B team.
In August 1958 a Republic of Ireland B team travelled to Reykjavík and beat Iceland 3-2. Then in September 1960, Iceland made a return visit to Dalymount Park, this time losing 2-1. On both occasions Iceland fielded their senior team and the Football Association of Iceland regard these games as full internationals. In between the two games against Iceland, the Republic of Ireland B also beat South Africa 1-0 at Dalymount Park. The South Africans also regard this as a full international. Several League of Ireland players who played in these games subsequently played for the senior Republic of Ireland team. These included Christy Doyle, who had scored against both Iceland and South Africa, Jackie Hennessy who had scored twice against Iceland and Liam Tuohy.
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