The Republic of Ireland’s 40-year run of misery against Denmark has continued as Ireland were left to retreat to the back-up of a Euro 2020 play-off.

The Aviva wasn't exactly the place to be tonight but it's no stretch to say that most of those fans who made the effort would have had a debut goal for a much-hyped wunderkind near the top of their list of wants and needs.

Player ratings with Paul Dowling

Forty years on, they still talk about those five minutes.

At 1.93m tall, and with shoulders that could carry a nation, it’s not that difficult to imagine Republic of Ireland defender Shane Duffy as a nightclub bouncer keeping Manchester United out of his penalty area in the FA Cup at Old Trafford tomorrow; and it’s an image he is perfectly happy to embrace.

The World Cup play-off defeat by Denmark cast Irish football into another period of introspection. Where are the players? 

If not always the football, then the results continue to flow in the World Cup qualifiers. writes Liam Mackey

He was still a coach, still getting into a player’s head, determining who needed cajoling, who would be incentivised by reward, all to elicit a better account of themselves, writes Michael Clifford

We are the Boys in Green, the best you’ve ever seen

The Après Match crew are hitting the road with a new live show that mixes harmless footie fun with skewering satire, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

One of the more striking book covers of recent years, Brand New Retro’s image of an old-fashioned newspaper stand catches your eye immediately, with its array of magazine covers familiar to those who were frequenting newsagents in the ’60s and ’70s.

Joe Corcoran used to like to be known as a mere postman with a passion for football but he was so much more.

It was very exciting for me to have Arsenal do the double just as I was about to join them as a 15-year-old apprentice back in 1971.

FA Cup Fourth Round

Goalkeeping legend Packie Bonner recalls Ireland’s victory over Scotland in Glasgow in 1987, with soccer writer, Liam Mackey, and reveals that although Jack Charlton’s team would kick on to a first ever Euros qualification, the road was by no means smooth on the way to the promised land.

Liam Brady has warned that the lack of young football talent coming through from Ireland is "scary".

From Dublin to Delhi, from Arsenal to Shamrock Rovers and from player to coach, former international John Devine is bringing a wealth of experience to bear on a plan to save Irish football.

Giovanni Trapattoni, highly decorated over four decades in some of Europe’s most demanding leagues, paid the price for the national team’s poor performances with his job.

Frank Stapleton returned to his native Dublin yesterday and spent a considerable portion of the trip being led on a ramble back down Memory Lane and more, again being asked to look deep into a crystal ball.

The official team sheet Alex Ferguson’s first game in charge at Manchester United is to be sold at auction - and it features three Irish stars.

In a game where the only element that was ever really going to be remembered was the numbers, Robbie Keane duly obliged.

Last Sunday, as Ireland played Georgia at the Aviva Stadium – and Robbie Keane took his international goal haul to 56 — it was precisely 20 years to the day since Frank Stapleton had set a then Irish goal scoring record by nabbing his 20th for his country in a friendly in Malta which was Ireland’s final warm-up game for Italia ’90.

Of the many tasks Alex Ferguson relished when taking the Manchester United job in 1986, addressing the chasm between the club and Ireland featured prominently.

The backdrop to last night’s events in Dublin had been a negative one, despite the Stockholm result, focused as it was on past defeats to Austria who have found encounters with Ireland, more often than not, to their liking.

Arsenal’s long drought of Irish first team players will continue after Conor Henderson confirmed he will quit the Emirates in May.

Frank Stapleton believes Robbie Keane can still contribute to Ireland’s World Cup campaign, even if Giovanni Trapattoni decides the LA Galaxy man is no longer an automatic starter in the team.

Shay Given admits Aston Villa’s cup success has helped him cope with the frustration of being number two goalkeeper this season.

Exclude me, if you will, from the ranks of the ‘media toerags’ whose foul agendas were purportedly dashed in Abbotstown on Wednesday night.

Enough’s enough for Eamo but Brady won’t abandon Trap’s ship just yet

A QUESTION: has an Irish team ever gone into a game as bigger outsiders than the one Giovanni Trapattoni will send into action against Spain here in Gdansk tonight?

STUTTGART, June 12, 1988. Ray Houghton’s goal. Packie Bonner defying Gary Lineker and everything else England could throw at him. The full-time scoreboard reading ‘England 0 Rep of Ireland 1. And, beneath it, the Green Army going positively bonkers.

A FEW of us spent a most enjoyable and rewarding hour in the company of three Irish football heroes of yesteryear on Monday morning as Tony Cascarino, Frank Stapleton and Paul McGrath mixed some astute analysis of the Premier League and Trapattoni’s Ireland with a few entertaining detours down memory lane.

THREE of Irish football’s most decorated stars have backed Robbie Keane’s move to the MLS.

NOT a bad weekend for Kevin Doyle who, having scored in Wolves’ 2-1 victory over Manchester United on Saturday, last night struck on the double at the 3/FAI International Awards.

THEY’VE always been one of the biggest draws in world football but it’s wins Manchester United need right now.

Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane has been hailed a legend and an inspiration as he prepares to make history tomorrow night.

Liam Brady says the Irish team would be willing to go to Paris and play the French again to ensure a fair outcome to the World Cup play-off.

RAYMOND DOMENECH was a strong contender to succeed Mick McCarthy as Ireland national team manager in 2002 but failed to make the shortlist, it emerged yesterday.

TOMMY DOCHERTY believes Manchester United should ‘cut Real Madrid’s hands off’ after the club confirmed they had accepted a world-record €94m offer for Cristiano Ronaldo.

THOMOND PARK is set to stage its second international soccer friendly after it was announced yesterday that the Republic of Ireland will face World Cup hosts South Africa in a friendly on Tuesday, September 8.

DEAN KIELY has become the first Irish retiree to answer Giovanni Trapattoni’s call.

Giovanni Trapattoni has hailed his appointment as the new Republic of Ireland manager as "the right job at the right time".