John Aldridge: Reunion of Ireland’s 1990 World Cup squad a truly special moment

Niall Quinn got the old band back together as we recalled the memorable days playing under Jack Charlton and the joy we brought to so many people across the country.

Most of the lads were on The Late Late Show on the Friday night. However, as my flight was a little delayed, I missed that part of the reunion that included some time with the President at Áras an Uachtaráin.

The Ireland team that lost to hosts Italy in the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Almost 35 years may have passed since we went all the way to the World Cup quarter-finals, but the people who lived through that summer with us will never forget it.

Along with the European Championship finals a couple of years earlier and our famous win against England in Stuttgart, the Italia ’90 story is part of Irish sporting folklore, and I’m reminded of the impact it had every time I go back to Ireland.

The two greatest honours of my soccer career are easy to identify, for as a young boy growing up on Merseyside, the dream was always to pull on the red shirt of my local team and win trophies for Liverpool.

That became a reality when Kenny Dalglish signed me in 1987 and by then, the second part of my dream had slotted into place.

I’ll never forget the day Big Jack came to me after an Oxford game and invited me to play for Ireland.

It turned out to be a very good afternoon for Jack as I told him my teammate Ray Houghton was also qualified to play for Ireland, so he ended up getting two pretty decent players in the space of a few minutes!

Even though I was born in Liverpool, a large proportion of us in my home city don’t see ourselves as English.

Liverpool people have always been treated as second-class citizens by the London government, so when I was offered the chance to represent Ireland, I didn’t need a second to think about it.

My career blossomed a little later than most and I was 27 when I played my first game for Ireland, against Wales in March 1986. I’ll never forget it.

The pride that rushed through me every time I pulled on that green shirt was huge and everyone else in the Ireland dressing room felt the same.

That was part of the secret to our success and when the lads were all together once again last weekend, the bond we had when we were playing together was still there.

They were very different times and as we had a manager who put team bonding near the top of his list of priorities; our pre-match build-ups were unique.

I remember chatting to my Liverpool teammates who were in the England squad back then and they were all divided up into little club cliques, with the Manchester United lads doing their own thing and not spending too much time chatting to the Arsenal boys.

Our approach was so different to theirs, as we would often head over to Ireland a day or two early for a team-bonding exercise others might consider a good old session!

Former Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton at the 1990 World Cup

Jack encouraged it because he knew team spirit would be vital if we were to succeed. The results proved it worked.

If the current Ireland or Liverpool team arrange a get-together in 35 years’ time, it would be very different because the kind of spirit we had back then simply doesn’t exist now.

Modern players tend to train in the morning, they might have some lunch together, then they all head off home.

Roll the clock back to the 1980s and 90s and footballers tended to have at least one day a week when they had a night out together or went to play golf after training, but players seem to do their own thing now.

Times have changed and while our success wasn’t built solely around downing pints of Guinness and late-night locks-ins in Dublin pubs, the great nights out we had as a team were important for gelling us together when we pulled on the green.

We were a group of lads who enjoyed each other’s company and any manager who gets a team playing with the kind of spirit we had has a chance of success.

The win against England in the Euro 88 finals will always be the highlight of my Ireland career, partly because of the stick I got in the UK media after switching to green. It was great to ram it down their throats in a major tournament.

Yet when I look back at the World Cup in Italy, it had so many pinch-me moments.

Mick McCarthy spoke last weekend about the ‘agreement’ he struck on the field with Dutch captain Ruud Gullit to play out a 1-1 draw in the final minutes of our group game, as we knew that would get us both through. The referee even had a word with Mick and Gullit about it!

Then we had the penalty shoot-out against Romania before the famous meeting with Pope John Paul II, which was a magical day.

Italy were too strong for us in the quarter-final, but what a ride that was and all these years later people still want to talk to me about it any time I’m in Ireland.

I will never grow tired of telling the stories of that summer and I would like to thank President Higgins for being so generous in hosting us at Áras an Uachtaráin.

President of Ireland Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina with members of the Republic of Ireland squad from 1990 Italian World Cup; (back row, from left) David Kelly, Ronnie Whelan, Kevin Moran, Mick McCarthy (capt), Steve Staunton, Bernie Slaven and Niall Quinn; (front row, from left) Chris Morris, Kevin Sheedy, Chris Hughton, kitman Charlie O’Leary, Frank Stapleton and John Aldridge. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

It was also fantastic to see our old kit man Charlie O’Leary still going strong well past his 100th birthday as he joined us for the occasion. What a legend.

If you look at the photos of that team from 1990, it’s no surprise we did so well, there were great players in that dressing room.

We all owe a lot to Jack for bringing us together and the Irish fans for sharing some of the greatest times of my life in an Ireland shirt.

Heimir Hallgrimsson’s green shoots of recovery

We have seen some good signs from the Ireland team since Heimir Hallgrimsson took over as Ireland manager and that continued on Thursday night.

The 2-1 win in Bulgaria was another positive step forward for this team and he seems to have a more sensible approach to the job than his predecessor Stephen Kenny.

The job of a manager is to get the best out of the players he has at his disposal and while Kenny wanted to play a passing brand of football, it was probably never going to happen with these lads.

Hallgrimsson has come in, looked at what he has got and come up with a plan to get results and given us all a bit of hope.

It’s been tough for Ireland in the last few years and we probably have to be patient and hope a few top players emerge over the next couple of years that will give us a real chance to qualify for tournaments.

Until that happens, we have to give ourselves the best chance to pick up results and Hallgrimsson is doing just that.

Hopefully we finish off the job against Bulgaria in Dublin tonight and we can look forward to the World Cup qualifiers later this year with a bit of optimism.