27 years ago today, Ireland lost 2-0 to the Netherlands at Anfield in a play-off match for the 1996 European Championships, a game that was Jack Charlton's last in charge.
The legendary world cup winning player for England took over the Irish job in 1985 and led the Boys in Green to three International tournaments in a golden era of Irish soccer.
Euro '88 brought us Ray Houghton's winner over England, while Italia '90 is fondly remembered for David O'Leary's penalty, Packie Bonner's heroics and for the heartbreak dealt out by Italy's Toto Schillaci.
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And then USA '94 gave us Houghton's chip and Paul McGrath's heroics in Giants Stadium. Decades later, only a handful of Irish moments come close to these memories.
But by the time the side headed to Liverpool in late '95, the wheels had started to come off. The team actually made an excellent start to the campaign winning their first three games. The third of which took place at Windsor Park, where Ireland beat their Northern neighbours 4-0, with a certain Roy Keane getting the first of his nine International goals.
At the time, it seemed like the team was gearing up for another crack at a major tournament. In hindsight, the win in Belfast is regarded as one of the last great wins of the Charlton era.
An Ian Dowie goal in the reverse fixture next March secured a 1-1 draw for the North and scuppered Ireland's 100% record. Victory came in the next outing with Portugal at Lansdowne a month later, but this proved to be a false dawn as Ireland went on to win only one more competitive game under Charlton.
A win over Latvia came between damaging defeats to Portugal and Austria, while an embarrassing 0-0 draw with Lichtenstein in June ratcheted up the pressure.
Ireland came second in the group and headed to Anfield to face the Dutch. On that cold December evening, the Dutch tore Ireland apart with Patrick Kluivert bagging a brace in a 2-0 win.
When the final whistle blew, Jack saluted the Irish crowd as supporters belted out a stirring rendition of 'You'll never walk alone.'
Charlton never managed Ireland again. Ireland had never qualified for a major tournament before Jack was in charge, they made it to three in the 10 years he was at the helm.
Former protegé Mick McCarthy took over. Since then, Ireland have been to just three major tournaments since 1994 in 2002, 2012 and 2016.
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