Peter Henry
Former England international Chris Waddle has opened up about what it was like playing against Big Jack Charlton’s Ireland.
Waddle’s 62 cap England career coincided with Irish Football’s golden age, with the Boys in Green qualifying for the 1988 European Championships in Russia, as well as the 1990 and 1994 World Cup’s in Italy and the USA respectively.
Ireland were drawn against historic rivals England in 1988 and 1990, securing a famous 1-0 win and a 1-1 draw respectively.
Waddle, who worked under Big Jack during his time with Newcastle, explained to us on one of our recent Podcasts why the Ireland team of that era was so difficult to play against.
”They were always hard to play against Ireland,” Waddle exclusively told The Football Faithful.
”Jack had them well organised, they were quite direct, they’d turn you, they wanted to get the ball in the box. They were a good unit, they all got on well and played for each other.
”When you get that camaraderie in the camp, it’s very hard, no matter what level of ability, it’s very hard, because some teams just think we’re not going to let you play. We’re not going to let you get your foot on the ball, we’re not going to let you get your foot on the ball and pass it around.
”Jack’s teams were like that, I played for him at Newcastle.”
Read: The all-time Irish Premier League XI
See Also: 20 of Mick McCarthy’s most legendary quotes
During his appearance on our Podcast this week, we asked Chris Waddle who was the most over rated player you played against?
We all nearly fell off our chairs when he gave his answer… 😮 pic.twitter.com/nWEkCacpCS
— Football Faithful (@FootyFaithful_) May 10, 2019