Fairly or unfairly, the Northern Ireland international soccer team has suffered from a serious image problem down the years.
It needs to be accepted that some officials from the Irish Football Association have recently gone to considerable lengths to promote their team among both sections of the community.
Nevertheless, the behaviour of a vocal minority of supporters has not made Windsor Park a comfortable venue for nationalists.
Many Northern Ireland followers have made it abundantly clear that they view their home stadium as a bastion of loyalism.
This attitude was most strongly expressed during the infamous meeting with the Republic of Ireland in a 1993 World Cup qualifier, which later became the inspiration for the acclaimed Marie Jones play, A Night in November.
Nationalists were given an unmistakable message that they were unwelcome, and most took the hint and transferred their allegiances elsewhere – if they had not already done so.
The chill factor had already revealed itself during the 1980s when two Glasgow Celtic players, one a Catholic and the other a Protestant, were effectively forced out of the Northern Ireland squad by extremists among the home crowd.
IFA representatives took a remarkably passive approach to this sinister development, although when history repeated itself last year, in the case of Neil Lennon, the authorities took a much more determined stand against sectarianism.
Reports now suggest that the IFA is prepared to go one step further, and end the practice of playing God Save the Queen before international games at Windsor Park.
Given that the British national anthem is not heard when Scotland and Wales stage home fixtures, this would appear to be a logical move.
It would also mirror the attempts by the Irish Rugby Football Union, a 32-county body, to acknowledge the position of northern unionists by introducing the neutral Ireland's Call either alongside or instead of the Soldier's Song.
As northern unionists generally have little active interest in Gaelic games, the airing of the Soldier's Song at GAA matches is not an issue at this stage.
However, IFA officials are probably not naive enough to believe dropping that God Save the Queen will radically change the atmosphere at Windsor Park.
Unionists are likely to continue to identify with the Northern Ireland team, while nationalists can be expected to favour the establishment of a single Irish side.
Regardless of anthems, a change of approach on either front is a distant prospect.
