McIlroy fights as bankruptcy fears mount

Northern Ireland have big problems on and off the field

In international football, just as at club level, failure on the pitch can easily become a vicious circle encompassing financial breakdown. But at least clubs eventually find a level at which they can compete on equal terms, and can stave off the banks for a while, if necessary, by selling a player or two.

The international manager has no such possibilities, and as Sammy McIlroy's Northern Ireland begin another qualifying tournament next weekend, their financial prospects look as bleak as the chances of reaching the finals of a major competition for the first time since 1986.

The Irish Football Association has admitted to the spectre of bankruptcy within five years; the national stadium, a club ground at Windsor Park, barely reaches Uefa standards; and now sectarianism has raised its ugly head again, depriving the team of one of their most valuable players.

Hours before the last match, a friendly at home to Cyprus, a death threat was sent to Neil Lennon, who in the absence of almost every other senior player, had been named captain for the day. While even the most bigoted Northern Ireland followers have traditionally tolerated Catholic players, Lennon was deemed to have placed himself beyond the pale by signing for Celtic. After consulting his family, he withdrew from the game and subsequently announced his retirement from international football.

McIlroy is reluctant to accept that the decision is final, but has had to leave his midfielder out of the squads for the Euro 2004 qualifying matches against Spain on Saturday and Ukraine four days later. "It was a shock, you don't want anything like that," he said. "I spoke to Neil after the game and he was still very down but he knows how we feel and we'll see if he wants to change his mind. We've got to give him time."

McIlroy, of course, was a member of the last successful Northern Ireland team, who reached the World Cup finals of 1982 and 1986. As that squad grew old together, a new breed of boys in green emerged on the southern side of the border under Jack Charlton, emulating the North's feats in successive World Cups and knocking out Billy Bingham's team on the way each time.

The balance of power on the island has never changed back. These days, while the Republic of Ireland's Mick McCarthy can field an all-Premiership XI and shake teams like Spain and Germany, McIlroy talks hopefully of young lads from Bournemouth and Rochdale. After only two victories in 18 previous qualifying matches, he was encouraged by some of the performances in the last World Cup, which brought 11 points from 10 games but only fifth place in the group, despite holding Denmark at home and away and beating Iceland convincingly in Belfast.

That meant going into the Euro 2004 draw as fourth seeds in a group of five, and coming out with Spain, Ukraine, Greece and Armenia. "Dear oh dear, frightening," was McIlroy's verdict on the Spanish, who won a friendly at Windsor Park 5-0 last April and departed the World Cup only after a controversial defeat on penalties in the quarter-final by South Korea. "But let's get these two games out of the way and if we get anything, that's a bonus."

If they don't, the task becomes even more daunting, and the possibility of attracting decent crowds for the remaining home games diminishes proportionally. In the last tournament, the average attendance for five home matches was under 9,000, 2,000 more than turned out to see Cyprus in August. "This particular group is not necessarily going to produce large revenue," said the IFA's spokesman John Quinn, with a touch of understatement. "If the team are doing very, very well, we could get a full house, but on a cold winter's night against Armenia..."

A full house these days amounts to no more than 14,500, in surroundings barely adequate for modern international football. A new national stadium elsewhere in Belfast was one of the proposals by an advisory panel established 18 months ago by the Minister for Sport, Michael McGimpsey, but if the government cannot offer sufficient funding, Linfield, the owners of Windsor Park, have their own redevelopment plan costing £15m and taking the capacity to 22,000.

Overall, Quinn admits, "the financial prospects are pretty grey. We've been in the red for three years and must have lost £1.5m in that time, which for a small organisation is serious. Four years ago we set up an Under-21 team, which is costing a lot, and if it goes on like this, we could be bankrupt in five years".

If financial pressure is constant, McIlroy can only hope that footballing success is cyclical and that the vicious circle can be broken, as Wales, for instance, now hope to prove. "We had our team in the Eighties and hopefully it'll come again," he said. "We had a decent crop of players, but also a lot of characters, good seasoned pros. And everyone got together."

As opposed to driving away the team captain. Uniting a divided community again, if only for 90 minutes, would be the worthiest of aims.