Laura Newman wore number 26 in 2011. She was on the bench for Westmeath’s All-Ireland intermediate final win over Cavan and she never got onto the pitch that day. In all, she represented her county’s football team for nine years and, whilst she had been a starter before, the opportunities weren’t as easy to come […]

8 years ago

You might not think it possible but people are doing a disservice to ‘banter’. For a brief, brief period there, there was an opportunity to pass some close-to-the-bone jokes off as ‘just banter’ but then Richard Keys started using it, loads more jumped on and it got to the point where Billy Joe Saunders thinks […]

8 years ago

“Even the things I thought I hated, those were the things I missed…”

8 years ago

Carnacon have been reinstated into the Mayo senior ladies football championship but they will be without eight of their players for four weeks. After a meeting in Ballyhaunis on Tuesday night, the appeal of Mayo LGFA was rejected. The county had lobbied to the provincial council who intervened on their decision to remove Carnacon from […]

8 years ago

The saga continues. The press conference from the 12 Mayo ladies footballers who walked off the panel this summer has added more fuel to the already fuel-filled blaze. Former county captain Sarah Tierney led a united front as the players issued a joint statement and gave their thoughts as to why they felt they could […]

8 years ago

A good night for Brighton, a good night for Shane Duffy. When Danny Ings struck home a 65th minute penalty and put Southampton 2-0 to the good, you’d have forgiven Mark Hughes for breaking into an Alan Pardew dance. 25 minutes left, two goals to the good… job done? Not on Shane Duffy’s watch. 100 […]

8 years ago

There’s an old changing room rally cry that doesn’t ever seem to become worn in the GAA: leave everything on the field, they say. Leave it all out there, every last bit of it. Don’t come back after the game with more still left to give. Don’t come back with anything else in you, with […]

8 years ago

On Sunday night, Gaelic football died again. Slaughtneil were leading Magherafelt in the Derry championship with just over 30 minutes remaining and they watched every one of the opposition team drop off to sit in front of goals. Now, the idea of a trap is that it involves some sort of a surprise element to […]

8 years ago

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Before the 90s, semi-finals in Croke Park were just a day out for Ulster teams. In the first 106 years of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Sam Maguire only ever made the trip up to the northern province on eight different occasions so, after the provincial championship, things […]

8 years ago

Kieran Donaghy was this close to jacking in the football. Fellas were calling him a waste of space, he was feeling too much pressure in that environment, he wasn’t performing and, to top it all off, he was actually a star on the basketball court. He didn’t need football. He didn’t need the hassle. The […]

8 years ago

Thank you, Kieran. 12 years, three All-Irelands, three All-Stars. It’s been a hell of a ride. The GAA’s best rags to riches story has come to a heartfelt ending after Kieran Donaghy announced his retirement from inter-county football. After emerging through The Underdogs series in 2004, Donaghy won the hearts of the nation with his […]

8 years ago

He also got his hands on Sam Maguire…

8 years ago

Six points down at half time. All square seven minutes into injury time. Clann na nGael still weren’t done. The Roscommon championship is shaping up for a rip-roaring Autumn and Matt Scally is intent on keeping the Johnstown boys sitting pretty on their perch. With one game remaining in the round robin section of the […]

8 years ago

You’ve done the work, now don’t balls it up with your team talk. A player’s mind is a bastion of chaos on match day. You might only get a three-sentence window to get anything into their heads so you’d best make the most of it when that opportunity arises. Don’t waste it with nonsense. Don’t […]

8 years ago

Joe Brolly is not happy

8 years ago

The biggest problem is that the GAA overachieved on the aims of its strategic review in 2002. As much as the funding that was injected into the games promotion of Dublin is creating an imbalance, it was a necessary thing to do. Dublin houses a fifth of the country and that fraction is getting bigger […]

8 years ago

O’Neill and Keane might be thanking their stars that the humiliation in Cardiff was the first Ireland game in decades not available on free-to-air TV. From the very start, the players looked toothless and disorganised and getting out having shipped just four goals and no more was probably the best thing about the night. In […]

8 years ago

The Irish are masters in passive aggressive communication. Most of us would do anything to avoid conflict but it’s not healthy to keep things in. That’s why WhatsApp groups were invented. You have an opportunity to air your grievance but you can direct it at no-one really so you don’t have to worry about anyone […]

8 years ago

People will complain either way but you’d find it hard to be put out if either of these seven players won Footballer of the Year. The inter-county season is over again, Dublin are champions again and all that’s left is to pick the bones out of who should win an All-Star and to shame the […]

8 years ago

No-one got near them. Three points was the closest margin anyone got to Dublin throughout the 2018 All-Ireland championship. Tyrone were within a goal in Omagh. Donegal were beaten by five, a margin that flattered them as Dublin played keep-ball in the face of Donegal’s blanket in the last 10 minutes. Tyrone were ousted by […]

8 years ago

One of the most unlikable things about Dublin is that it’s hard not to like them. And that’s honestly unnatural when you’re not from the capital and watching them completely dominate Gaelic football. You want to hate them and find any little reason to stick it to them but, on the pitch, it’s very damn […]

8 years ago

Seven minutes added on. Tyrone about to go four behind. Dublin about to go down to 14 men. It calls for composure. It calls for calm heads. No panic. Game management. As Dublin eventually soared, pushed on by the stupid running power of Michael Darragh MacAuley, Kevin McMenamin and Cormac Costello in injury time to […]

8 years ago

Maybe one day we’ll look back and recall fondly those amazing 17 minutes. The moments when the football world lived in hope. 17 minutes that threatened to show that maybe, just maybe, Dublin could be rattled. Tyrone were 0-5 to 0-1 up, winning kickouts, playing champagne ball through the formidable All-Ireland champions and then Dublin […]

8 years ago

Rivals. But on the pitch only. Outside of the 60 minutes of championship action, every club is just the same really. They’ve all the same problems, the same characters and the same life. The GAA can cook up some of the most hateful feuds but, then, so can any family. This weekend, the people of […]

8 years ago

“What the hell is going on here?” It’s a Tuesday night. Kildare players are still recovering from the trip to Longford. For 69 minutes at the weekend, they were being dragged around the Pearse Park trenches, trailing for the entirety of the game until an incredible show of character, and a more incredible showing from […]

8 years ago

You list out 15 Dublin players here and it wouldn’t be hard to argue your case. But when you’re talking about a combined Dublin and Tyrone team, you’re talking about improving on the best side in Ireland – if it is even possible. Some might say it’s not – why bother changing anything about that […]

8 years ago

The bookies think Dublin will win by at least five. Tyrone men think that’s nuts. It’s All-Ireland final weekend but the build-up would hardly suggest that the whole country has been gripped. In Dublin, they’re expecting to win. In 30 other counties, they’re expecting a boring precision. In Tyrone? Well, if you haven’t heard, they’ve […]

8 years ago

This is an interesting one. Mickey Harte helps prepare his Tyrone team for games with a pre-match rosary and sometimes they even head to mass together. You don’t need to look too far nowadays to know that the whole of Ireland isn’t the God-fearing nation that once united the entire island. The majority of people […]

8 years ago

2015. Another cold day down the country somewhere. Diarmuid Connolly remembers these league games like he was one of those classic old Gaels telling stories of times gone by. He talks about O’Byrne Cup clashes and tells you the play by play. He recalls battles in February and March, in Castlebar, in Omagh, in Clones. […]

8 years ago

There’s a great phrase in soccer that says no-one ever fails in the game, they just find their level. The same can be said of football and hurling too. When you see how much a reserve championship means to a player, young or old, you get that the GAA is a home for men and […]

8 years ago

Some horrific ones here

8 years ago

Look, it’s disappointing. It’s disappointing when you invest time, money and effort into a player from 15 years of age that you might not get to enjoy the finished product at the end of your endeavours. It’s disappointing to think that a player wouldn’t want to play for your team anyway. But it’s really, really, really […]

8 years ago

You’d almost sacrifice this year’s championship and all the whinging to follow it about how boring football is and how Dublin need to be split in 15 for a certain outcome: It’s 2019 and Dublin are going for a record five in-a-row. No team has ever done it. No team could possibly stop this juggernaut. […]

8 years ago

It’s the summer of 2014 and David Moyes is one season into his six-year contract at Old Trafford. Louis van Gaal is sitting on his seat now though and United, as a football entity, have just transformed into a short-term fire-fighting operation. Mauricio Pochettino has been hired as Spurs boss after making a laughing stock […]

8 years ago

When Kieran Hughes came on against Tyrone in the second half in Croke Park, Hill 16 was hanging off his every move. Monaghan men couldn’t understand why the team weren’t just letting the thing into him when he was a) free and/or b) eating defenders alive. Tyrone folk were just shitting themselves every time the […]

8 years ago

Imagine you’re an 11-year-old. The parents are offloading you on a Saturday morning, getting you out of their sight for a few hours. You’re dragged out of bed early, you’re told it might rain, but you’re sent in your shorts and t-shirt anyway. Instead of playing Fortnite with your day, you’re set to be put […]

8 years ago

Serious dedication

8 years ago

Maybe it really is one of the most competitive club scenes in the land. Derry GAA prides itself on the intense devotion of its people to its games. That leads to fierce on-field rivalries. That leads to deadly competitions. Before Ballinderry and Slaughtneil took turns at asserting complete control over the senior football championship this […]

8 years ago

Jim McGuinness is right. Dublin do set the rules of engagement. They are playing every game on their terms. They will go to extremes to keep percentages in their favour, to avoid risk and to win. Jim McGuinness is also right when he tells you in no uncertain terms that if you fail to ask the champions any questions, you’ll fail […]

8 years ago

Sleep is really important!

8 years ago

The ball breaks. Damien Comer picks it up and ploughs through the gap. One strong left arm keeps Jack McCaffrey at bay. One stronger left shoulder puts Jonny Cooper to the turf. He scans inside, he looks at the posts, he lets fly with the outside of his boot and the crowd don’t even react […]

8 years ago

Thursday morning, 9am, TJ Doheny is looking to make history. A Portlaoise man living in Australia fighting for a world title in Tokyo. The opponent: Ryosuke Iwasa. On the line: the IBF World super-bantamweight belt. On Wednesday night (Irish time), the Irish boxer weighed in under the 122-pound limit and all that’s left to do is ring […]

8 years ago

Nice guys finish last. Sergio Ramos finishes first. Whatever your personal taste is of the Spaniard, you can’t deny that he’s an out and out winner. Some of the biggest winners on the planet – in history – haven’t always been the most selfless of folk and Ramos is as cutthroat as the most unforgiving […]

8 years ago

Joseph O’Brien never knew anything else. His father is one of the most legendary trainers in Ireland. His grandfather before him was a trainer. He was a jockey on a diet of wine gums and Red Bull but, with the height of him, it was going to be a torture to keep making weight as […]

8 years ago

You see some sights standing on Hill 16. Tickets for an All-Ireland semi-final seat are priced at 45 quid so the riffraff like me are scrambling for a spot on the terrace. Derry men don’t get many days out at Croke Park so it’s not the easiest stadium to navigate around for the untrained. Why […]

8 years ago

“It’s the Irish against the English.” Kate and Jessica Harrington are winners. You can see it in their training, you can see it all over their stables at Moone, County Kildare. You can tell that every minute of their waking thoughts they’re thinking about what’s best for the horses and, because of that, they get […]

8 years ago

It’s almost exciting to note how highly James McGrath rates himself. Too often you look at a GAA referee and think he’s just trying to keep his head above water and that he only wants to make everyone happy. Games are officiated based of circumstance a lot of the time. You can get away with […]

8 years ago

You’re in the final. Great. Now just go get your ticket. Oh… Not that straightforward, is it? The build-up to an All-Ireland final is supposed to be savoured but, instead, it’s just 14 pain-staking and disappointingly inevitable stages that we all go through in pursuit of one tiny ticket. 1. Get your season ticket in […]

8 years ago

Predictions in sport are nothing more than a tool to get us by. Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher guessing who will finish top six in the Premier League table doesn’t really mean anything. Most pundits call it wrong when they’re asked to get specific, tell us the scoreline, predict who will finish where exactly in […]

8 years ago

Brendan Boyce gave the Irish a thrilling ride. For over 30 kilometres, it looked for all the world like the Donegal native was in contention for a medal at the European Championships in Berlin but a myriad of circumstances conspired to see him fall out of the podium reckoning. Nonetheless, he had the country in […]

8 years ago