And we thought Stan's era was bad.
Ireland once went over 4 and a half years without winning a match. Between a surprise 2-1 away win over Czechoslovakia in November 1967 and our eventual salvation against one of our favourite opponents, Iran, in a Brazilian tournament in Recife in June 1972, Ireland went on an almost Northern Ireland-like 20 game run without winning a match (see table below).
Mick Meegan was Ireland manager at that time (though there may have been a selection committee standing over him). His record reads a distinctly minnow-like Won 0, Drew 3, Lost, 9. Things improved when Liam Touhy took over the job in the early 70s.
In fairness to the players back then, there weren't too many games against the Faroe Islands and Liechtenstein.
This era also coincided with the career of a certain ex-midfielder who has released his autobiography this week but who, out of fairness, we will not name.
Source: FAI website
