Ireland national cerebral palsy football team


Ireland national cerebral palsy football team is the national cerebral football team for Ireland that represents the team in international competitions. They have participated in several Paralympic Games and World Championships. They have won two bronze medals and a silver at the Paralympics. Their best finish at the World Championships was first at the 1982 edition in Denmark.

Background

manages the national team. In 2011, members of the Irish national team participated in a study that looking at endurance and running performance as part of a researcher's efforts to understand the fairness of cerebral palsy football classification. In October 2014, an IFCPF coaching workshop was held in Wales to try to further develop the sport, with participants from Wales, England and the Republic of Ireland. While Ireland was active in participating on the Paralympic and World Championship level by 2016, the country did not have a national championships to support national team player development.
In 2016, after getting an endorsement by the World AntiDoping Agency, the IFCPF Anti-Doping Code was formally amended to allow for out of competition testing. This was done through a WADA approved Whereabouts Programme managed through ADAMS. Drawing from players in a Registered Testing Pool, players from this country were included ahead of the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio.

Ranking

Ireland was ranked fifth in the world by the IFCPF in 2016. In September 2012, August 2013 and November 2014, the team was ranked number seven in the world. In July 2011, the team was ranked sixth in the world.

Players

There have been a number of players for the Ireland squad.
NameNumberClassificationPositionYears activeRef
Daragh Byrne5FT7Midfielder2012
Peter Cotter11FT7Forward2012
Kieran Devlin2FT7Defender2012
Luke Evans4FT7Midfielder2012
Simon L'Strange16FT6Goalkeeper2012
Gary Messett7FT7Midfielder2012, 2014
Joseph Markey3FT7Defender2012
Brian McGillivary1FT5Goalkeeper2012
Eric O'Flaherty8FT7Defender2012
Finbar O'Riorden6FT7Defender2012
Daragh Snell9FT7Forward2012
Aaron Tier12FT5Forward2012

Results

Ireland has participated in a number of international tournaments.
CompetitionLocationYearTotal TeamsResultRef
Pre-Paralympic TournamentSalou, Spain201675
Northern European Open ChampionshipDenmark201542
Euro Football 7-a-sideMaia, Portugal2014114
Intercontinental CupBarcelona, Spain201316
Ireland CP International TournamentIreland20134
2012 Paralympic World CupLondon, England20124
Nottingham British Paralympic World CupNottingham, England20104
CPISRA International ChampionshipsArnhem, Netherlands200911
Nations CupLilleshall, England20094

IFCPF World Championships

The Republic of Ireland has participated in the IFCPF World Championships. At the 2011 CP-ISRA World Championship in Drenthe, Ireland beat Canada 6 - 0.
World ChampionshipsLocationTotal TeamsResultRef
2015 IFCPF World ChampionshipsEngland156
2011 CPSIRA World ChampionshipsNetherlands169
1994 CPISRA World ChampionshipsDublin, Ireland2
1990 CPISRA World ChampionshipsAssen, Netherlands2
1986 CPISRA World ChampionshipsGits, Belgium3
1982 CPISRA World ChampionshipsGreve, Denmark1

Paralympic Games

Ireland has participated in 7-a-side football at the Paralympic Games. Their best performance was at the 1992 and 1984 Games when they won silver medals. They also won a bronze at the 1988 Games. After qualifying for the gold medal game in the sport's debut at the 1984 Summer Games, they lost their match to Belgium to finish with a silver medal.
Paralympic Results
GamesResultsRef
2008 Summer Paralympics6
2004 Summer Paralympics7
1996 Summer Paralympics
1992 Summer Paralympics3
1988 Summer Paralympics3
1984 Summer Paralympics2