Northern Eire 1-0 England: BBC documentary displays on well-known soccer nigth 20 years on

It is a night that is etched in Northern Ireland footballing and sporting folklore.

Wednesday, 7 September 2005. The evening that Lawrie Sanchez’s side upset the odds by producing a stunning giant-killing 1-0 victory over a star-studded England side in a World Cup qualifying game at Windsor Park.

For those who were present in south Belfast that evening, or among the many watching on television, the image is as vivid as it was two decades ago.

Almost 74 minutes on the clock. Steven Davis produces a deft pass into the path of David Healy. The striker takes one touch and dispatches the ball past England goalkeeper Paul Robinson into the back of the net. The home crowd erupts.

A BBC documentary, ‘True North: Healy 1 England 0: A Football Miracle’, available to watch now on BBC iPlayer, reflects on the events of that night and puts it into context in the contemporary footballing landscape.

Northern Ireland had hit rock bottom in the autumn of 2003, the managerless team languishing at number 124 in the Fifa world rankings and racking up a number of unwanted records, including failing to score in 13 consecutive games.

Two years later, on that momentous night, England fielded a team valued at almost £200m more than their opponents, including superstars David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Jamie Carragher, who contributes to this film with his reflections on the game.

Labelled the ‘golden generation’, the team of footballing ‘galacticos’ was managed by Swede Sven Goran-Eriksson.

Goalscorer Healy and team-mate Stephen Craigan, who also played that night, reminisce on the match highlights, the electric atmosphere inside the stadium that night and the decisive goal which secured the most unlikely of victories.

The film, narrated by Colin Murray, also features contributions from manager Lawrie Sanchez, Jim Boyce, who was IFA president at the time, former minister for sport Kate Hoey, sports reporter Steven Beacom and super fans Heidi and Ray.

Boyce explains how Sanchez, who scored the winning goal for Wimbledon in a shock 1-0 FA Cup final win over Liverpool in 1988, vowed to “get Northern Ireland scoring goals and winning matches” when he was appointed to succeed Sammy McIlroy as manager in January 2004.