Ian Baraclough’s ‘create history’ rally cry for Northern Ireland

Over 1,000 fans will be cheering on from the National Stadium stands in Belfast - as Northern Ireland stand one win away from joining the heroes of the past by reaching another major tournament finals.

Following three World Cup campaigns and EURO 2016, Northern Ireland face Slovakia in search of creating another moment to remember for the nation.

It is a challenge Baraclough and his squad remain ready to embrace.

“It’s something I say to the players - go and try and create history,” said Baraclough. “When you start off, you want to be able to look back on your career and say ‘I managed to win this or that’, it would be a massive achievement for this team to make it to another Euros.

“People think that footballers are mercenaries and just interested in money but I think if you get to know footballers, more so they want to go on and achieve things, they want things to look back on and to share with their families.

“It’s for other people to judge but we know that to get to the Euros would be an unbelievable achievement for this group of players who started this two years ago. “To go through the round of games and now put ourselves in the play-off position...everyone who’s been involved in those two years deserves a lot of credit.”

With coronavirus restrictions in place, tickets have been limited to 1,060 fans - but Baraclough is happy to call on any home advantage in Belfast.

“Any number of fans being in the ground is good, we had 600 for the Austria game and it gave the players a bit of a lift,” said Baraclough. “It was good for the Executive to see that the IFA could do that and knowing that we could have more fans in there.

“We want the fans to increase the noise, to enjoy themselves and make a noise and go home hoarse - but also with a smile on their faces.

“We have the responsibility of lifting a nation, having 1,060 adds to the occasion.

“We want all fans to try and enjoy themselves as much as they can, whether that’s in front of a television or whether it’s those that come to Windsor Park.

“The lads know that the nation is fully behind them, we love the responsibilty of that..stick with us.

“Hopefully there can be a ray of sunshine at the end of it.”

--

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world.

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you