The 27 Best Northern Irish Sportspeople of All Time

A country of under two million people that keeps producing world champions, across golf, football, boxing, snooker and motorcycling.

1. 1
   George Best

   Won the Ballon d'Or in 1968 and is still on most lists of the finest footballers ever.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Joey Dunlop

   Twenty-six Isle of Man TT wins, still among the highest totals in the event's history.
   861pts
3. 3
   Eddie Irvine

   Four Formula 1 wins and second place in the 1999 drivers' championship.
   830pts
4. 4
   Steven Davis

   Northern Ireland's most-capped player with 140 appearances, captain of the side that reached the last sixteen of Euro 2016.
   647pts
5. 5
   Rhys McClenaghan

   Gymnast from Newtownards who won pommel horse gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the first Olympic gymnastics medal for Ireland.
   647pts
6. 6
   Carl Frampton

   Won world titles at two weights and headlined in Belfast, New York and Las Vegas.
   542pts
7. 7
   Michael Dunlop

   Road racer from Ballymoney who passed his uncle Joey's record and reached 36 Isle of Man TT wins by 2026, the most in the event's history.
   542pts
8. 8
   Rory McIlroy

   Six major championships, including Masters titles in 2025 and 2026, and a career Grand Slam, from Holywood, County Down.
   478pts
9. 9
   Jonathan Rea

   Six consecutive World Superbike championships between 2015 and 2020.
   478pts
10. 10
    John Watson

    Belfast driver who won five Formula 1 Grands Prix, including Long Beach 1983 from 22nd on the grid, and finished third in the 1982 championship.
    478pts
11. 11
    Paddy Barnes

    Light-flyweight who won Olympic bronze medals in 2008 and 2012 and two Commonwealth Games golds before turning professional.
    404pts
12. 12
    Danny Blanchflower

    Captained Tottenham to the 1960-61 league and FA Cup double and Northern Ireland to the 1958 World Cup quarter-finals; twice Footballer of the Year.
    404pts
13. 13
    Willie John McBride

    Ballymena lock who made a record five British and Irish Lions tours and captained the unbeaten 1974 Lions in South Africa.
    404pts
14. 14
    Mark Allen

    Antrim snooker player who won the Masters in 2018 and the UK Championship in 2022, Northern Ireland's leading player of the modern era.
    404pts
15. 15
    Bethany Firth

    Para-swimmer from Seaforde who has won multiple Paralympic gold medals since London 2012, first for Ireland and then for Great Britain.
    319pts
16. 16
    Barry McGuigan

    Won the WBA featherweight title in 1985 in front of 26,000 people at Loftus Road.
    319pts
17. 17
    Mary Peters

    Won Olympic pentathlon gold in Munich in 1972 with a world-record score.
    319pts
18. 18
    Graeme McDowell

    Won the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach, the first European to take the title in forty years.
    319pts
19. 19
    Pat Jennings

    Kept goal in over 1,000 senior matches and won 119 caps for Northern Ireland.
    319pts
20. 20
    Wayne McCullough

    Belfast boxer who won Olympic silver in Barcelona in 1992 and the WBC bantamweight world title in Japan in 1995.
    319pts
21. 21
    Darren Clarke

    Won the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St George's at the age of forty-two.
    319pts
22. 22
    Ciara Mageean

    Middle-distance runner from Portaferry who won the European 1500 metres title in Rome in 2024 after years of championship medals.
    319pts
23. 23
    Alex Higgins

    Two-time world snooker champion who dragged the sport onto primetime television.
    319pts
24. 24
    Martin O'Neill

    Won two European Cups with Nottingham Forest in 1979 and 1980 and captained Northern Ireland at the 1982 World Cup.
    319pts
25. 25
    AP McCoy

    Champion jump jockey 20 seasons in a row with more than 4,300 winners, a 2010 Grand National winner and the first jockey voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
    217pts
26. 26
    Dennis Taylor

    Beat Steve Davis on the final black in the 1985 world snooker final, watched by 18.5 million.
    0pts
27. 27
    Norman Whiteside

    Became the youngest player at a World Cup in 1982 aged 17 and scored winning goals for Manchester United in the 1983 and 1985 FA Cup finals.
    0pts

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