The last time Ireland met the Netherlands with their manager standing at the same proximity to the exit door the scenarios, names, emotional investment and the stakes were on another planet, but the circumstances weren’t far off feeling the same. In December 1995 the framing of their play-off for Euro 96 at Anfield felt in Ireland like the gathering of a family around a sickbed, extended members packed outside in the corridor waiting for bad news.
Win, and Jack Charlton’s Ireland were in remission. Lose, and even though every opinion poll insisted people wanted Charlton to stay, everyone also knew there was no escaping the prognosis.
This was Irish football’s version of the last days of the Roman Empire: the trip to Harry Ramsden’s before
© Times Media Limited 2023.
Registered in England No. 894646. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF.