Republic of Ireland Senior Football Team Results 1980 to 1984

Eoin Hand Appointed Irish Football Manager

Following the resignation of John Giles as manager of the Republic of Ireland national team manager former international Eoin Hand was appointed in his place. As qualification for the 1980 European Championship Finals was beyond the team his first challenge was to qualify the Irish team for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

In a very tight group that included Holland, France Belgium and Cyprus the Irish finished in third place. There were just two points between the Dutch in fourth place and Belgium who won the group.

Poor 1984 European Championship Qualifying Campaign

The qualification campaign for the 1984 European Championship Finals was nowhere near as tight. Despite a record 8-0 result over Malta at Lansdowne Road (now the Aviva Stadium) in Dublin, Ireland failed to impress in the group matches.

The only point that the Republic garnered against the bigger teams in the group was from a 3-3 result in Dublin against Spain. Ireland finished a poor third behind Spain and the Netherlands.

Eoin Hand Manages Ireland for Third Qualifying Campaign

Demonstrating a measure of tolerance unheard of in the current soccer environment Hand was given a third opportunity to manage the Irish team through qualification campaign for the World Cup Finals in Mexico in 1986. Despite a September 1-0 result over the former Soviet Union in Dublin in the first qualifying match, 1984 ended poorly with away losses to the Scandinavian pair, Norway and Denmark. The latter was a particularly heavy 3-0 defeat.

The writing was on the wall for Eoin Hand in terms of his career as manager of the Republic of Ireland.

Republic of Ireland Match Results 1980 to 1984 (inclusive)

Scores in parentheses are half-time scores