Dave Clements, Terry Neill and Derek Dougan were a selection of some of the star players that Northern Ireland had at their disposal during the late 1960’s. After failing to qualify for the 1966 world cup finals, Northern Ireland set their sights for the 1968 European football championships in a group consisting of Wales and England. Qualification seemed a million miles away as they suffered a 2-0 defeat at home against England in Belfast. Their next qualification match was a dire goal less draw against Wales. They met England at Wembley in November 1967 and suffered a crushing 2-0 defeat against the English, ending any hopes of qualification. They defeated Israel 3-2 in a friendly match played in Jaffa in September 1968 which was the perfect preparation for the qualification matches for the 1970 world cup finals. Their qualification campaign set off perfectly enjoying fine back to back victories over Turkey, 4-1 and 3-0 respectively, the latter being played at Istanbul. After the draw against the Soviet Union in Belfast all they required in their final match at Moscow was a draw to qualify, however, they suffered a heart breaking 2-0 defeat against the Soviets, in turn ending any hopes of qualification in an encounter played in October 1969.