Why?

Ah king was only a Dub .

The rest of the North could learn a lot from Derry people on how to treat each other. Sectarianism wasn't as bad in Derry as the rest of the North.

This Felix Healy thing is absolute claptrap on three counts. 1: Healy was a part-timer playing for Coleraine in the Irish League at a time when only a small number of Irish league players made the Northern Ireland squad and even rarer for them to play. Healy's first two caps were while with Port Vale in England. He was one of four Irish League players called into the 1982 world cup squad and the only one to take the field, playing a few minutes as a sub in one of the five games. It's important to note that the other three Irish League players not only didn't get a game at the world cup but never got a minute on the pitch ever. To further emphasise how rare it was for an Irish league player to play, this was a golden generation in Northern Irish Football and they had 16 players with English First Division pedigree in the squad. 2: Healy's fourth and final cap came in the first game after the World cup. A euro qualifier in Austria. In which the Irish League quartet were again all selected. It was an abject performance and Healy came on with 12 minutes remaining of a 0-2 defeat. If Healy genuflected as he entered the field, barely anyone noticed. Reporter, Malcolm Brodie made no mention of it in the Belfast Telegraph match report. The BBC made no mention of it in the commentary. Indeed nobody in Northern Ireland saw it because the Austrian TV crew didn't put their cameras on Healy until he had already entered the field. If the Northern Ireland fans in the stadium noticed it, it doesn't come across as Healy is not singled out for any more scorn than was already being poured on a poor performance. Manager Billy Bingham came in for heavy criticism after the game and his next squad for a home game against West Germany contained no Irish League players at all as he gave a debut to Ian Stewart, a full-time pro at First Division Queen's Park Rangers in place of Healy who was still playing part-time at Coleraine. Stewart scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over the World cup finalists and Bingham's squad remained similar throughout a campaign where they beat the Austrians 3-1 and became the first-ever team to beat the Germans home and away in a qualifying campaign. Healy, who hadn't touched the ball in his 12 minutes in Vienna was out of the squad on merit. 3; And finally, to nail the bigotry thing once and for all. The IFA didn't just select the National team. They also selected Irish League representative teams too. Naturally, as none of the national team played in the Irish league, they couldn't be picked. Twice after Healy's supposed snub, he was selected by and played in the IFA's Irish League representative team against other Leagues.

He didn't play again because he wasn't good enough!

Like so many footballers the love of drink eventually destroyed him

I met him in Rathmullan a few years ago on holiday with his family. The barman saw I had a Celtic top on and told me he was outside. Got a chat and a selfie and he was very friendly.

Only 1 of his 5 years at Celtic was under Strachan, and be admits his fitness was non existent when he first arrived.

100% agree pal saved me the effort paddy was a great dribbler one of the best ever

haha gimme a break!! The guy played for Rochdale and Barnsley, either side of Celtic. He doesnt deserve to be anywhere near the names you mentioned. What it shows is the standard of the SPL that these lower level English players go up there and look like Pele every week, inflate their price tag, get sold back to England and then flop back down the leagues. McGeady another prime example. There are so many, Rangers players too. I am not saying some of them don't have talent, but the level of consistency you need to do it against top defenders week in week out, which Livingston for example are not, it just wouldn't happen.

I agree with Gordon Strachan, who has played all around the world with Scotland with and against some great players and played for Manchester United for years at the highest level with and against great players when he says Paddy McCourt is as gifted a player as he has ever seen, and he gets as much enjoyment watching him play than any other player. Gordon has seen far more players up and close than you or me, and he tells it straight, no bull.

@@raydoherty1196 Strachan may have enjoyed watching him as much as any other player, but he put him in the reserves and only gave him 5 appearances, which says something. Best, Law and Charlton reached the top of the game in their time because they worked to excel at what they needed to excel at in their era. Law and Charlton would no doubt have done the same in McCourt's era. McCourt didn't.

@@anthonyr587 van dijk Robertson wanyama tierney etc all really struggled moving to the epl

blueMJS Nah this guy could have been world class. Too inconsistent and unfit

can you say he wasnt consistent when he never really got a consistent run of games or chances? N he barely played any game for 90 mins?

too many managers focused on athletes and players who play by the book. McCourt had too much flair and too off script i'd say.

@@KSRugby Best talent I’ve ever seen at Barnsley. Again his fitness and work rate meant a lot of fans got on his back. But he was about 30 by the time he joined us in the championship and must have known deep down in his head that he was way too good for us! Talent wise alone he’s the best I’ve seen live