“Announce anything, even if it’s a goat”

10 years ago

We’re not all Zach Tuohys. The AFL man is back in Laois and he’s back for this weekend to line out for Portlaoise in the county final again. Of course, that brings with it whinges and moans – he’s a professional, he shouldn’t be allowed to play, that type of thing. But he’s a pretty superstar […]

10 years ago

He actually looks like them

10 years ago

Is this the difference?

10 years ago

Only seven months to go. The draw for the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship has Gaels far and wide looking ahead far too early but it’s created a buzz at least for an evening. With the hurling championship draw pitting champions Tipperary with a God-awful trek back to the top of the mountain, the footballers […]

10 years ago

The 2017 hurling championship draw has been made. Yes, it’s a long way to go and, yes, the 2016 season is only over but we’re already looking past pre-season and the league and we’ve all our eyes on the summer. In the hurling championship, All-Ireland champions Tipperary have a turgid road back if they want to […]

10 years ago

This is why he is universally respected

10 years ago

18 key ingredients for the right amount of class in a heartfelt statement

10 years ago

“He for many years was the back that got to mark the opposition’s number one danger man. More often than not we could take that as mission accomplished…”

10 years ago

“The truth is, managing a club team at the moment is way more difficult than managing a county team…”

10 years ago

“We’ve had some great battles over the years. He’s won more of them than me…”

10 years ago

17 hours of the highs and lows that only a club player would understand

10 years ago

You might even call it professional

10 years ago

“When has winning never been enough?” James McClean used his post-match Sky interview on Sunday night to level with the Irish media. Despite winning two World Cup qualifiers in the space of four days, the Republic of Ireland team have come in for some criticism for what was an unconvincing performance against Georgia and a […]

10 years ago

“Maybe I should have said nothing and let him believe”

10 years ago

“I just felt their ambitions didn’t really match mine”

10 years ago

“The most naturally talented player I’ve played with…”

10 years ago

Only in the GAA

10 years ago

He’s even catching Robbie Keane

10 years ago

Grab your popcon

10 years ago

Vote for your preferred team

10 years ago

Heart like a lion

10 years ago

It’s not about possession and stats. Yes, it doesn’t look good when Georgia – the fifth seeds in your group – are bossing the ball on your own patch and they’re doing it with confidence and swagger but this anger after that win isn’t because of what the numbers would tell you. It’s because people […]

10 years ago

Get your tickets and get them early. That’s right, Wes is in town. The Republic of Ireland have announced an international friendly with Uruguay set for Sunday 4 June. Martin O’Neill’s men host Austria in the World Cup qualifiers on June 11 2017 and the match with the South Americans will act as a warm-up. […]

10 years ago

Brilliant insight into the team’s dressing room

10 years ago

Shane Duffy is not happy with the kit man

10 years ago

Davy Fitzgerald is on the verge of taking over Wexford senior hurlers. The Clare man is expected to be ratified on Friday night as the successor to Liam Dunne. After five years with his native Banner county where he delivered Liam McCarthy, the former goalkeeper stepped down last month and penned a heartfelt statement with […]

10 years ago

Decent year all round. The GAA/GPA Opel Hurling All-Stars nominations have been revealed and it’s no surprise to learn that Tipperary absolutely dominate the list. 15 players from the Premier county have been included in the nominations with the rest of the 45-strong list being made up as follows: Waterford (9); Kilkenny (8); Galway (6); Clare […]

10 years ago

We got the result. It’s not about the performance. Three points. Job done. Those were the sort of words that were being reeled on Landsdowne Road. Jon Walters is developing his own little death stare. The usual scenes unfolded beneath the stand in the Aviva on Thursday night after an unconvincing win over Georgia. Journalists […]

10 years ago

(If you want them)

10 years ago

“It’s the guys who want it more than anyone else who usually end up making it”

10 years ago

Class. Pure class. Lee Keegan is Mayo to the very core. He plays with passion and drive and he wears his heart on his sleeve for the whole world to see. That heart pumps green and red blood. The half back has earned his Footballer of the Year nomination, the 2016 All-Star nominations confirming the news […]

10 years ago

Paddy Bradley only has one All-Star, you know. They don’t hand these things out willy-nilly. After 65 matches, 61 Dean Rock points and three different Ulster teams that were involved in the championship’s highest scoring games, it’s over. What? The Ulster teams thing? Yeah, it’s true… At the end of it all, it’s the same […]

10 years ago

Standards. Seamus Coleman is a man of standards. Finishing 11th in the Premier League doesn’t particularly appeal to him. Losing to France in France isn’t something he just accepts. Talk to any of his old team mates or coaches in Killybegs, “drive” will be one of the first words that springs up in conversation with […]

10 years ago

Shane Long hasn’t scored a goal for 1,000 minutes. So who the hell is to blame for this? Alright, he’s not always the most prolific in front of goals. He’d tell you that himself. Should have had a goal & an assist today! Great win, massive 3 points! #WeMarchOn 😇 — Shane Long (@ShaneLong7) September […]

10 years ago

“You’re looking at these people and you’re going, ‘are you insane?'”

10 years ago

Josh Samman has passed away, aged just 28. The UFC fighter was found unresponsive in an apartment in Florida on Friday and has since been in a coma until he was declared dead in the hospital on Wednesday. His manager Gary Ibarra confirmed the tragic news to FOX Sports. Samman, a middleweight with an MMA […]

10 years ago

15 players, 6 counties

10 years ago

“He was catapulted in on a pure general conversation.” Brian Fenton has played three seasons with his county. In his first year, he won an under-21 All-Ireland championship having been called in late to the panel. In his second year, he won a senior All-Ireland championship, he was man of the match in the final, […]

10 years ago

Sure what else would you do with a weekend off? Seamus Coleman is back in Donegal and he’s right back at the heart of it all. The club championship is a special thing. Nothing would make you feel right at home like your neighbours and rivaling parishes busting their arses for a piece of leather […]

10 years ago

Natural selection. There’s no big secret to Dublin’s success. It’s not incomprehensible and it’s certainly not paranormal or anything like that. In fact, it’s entirely logical and that logic is what their whole ethos is founded upon. Natural selection. Charles Darwin’s idea that organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive – and then […]

10 years ago

Never forget where you’re coming from. James McClean is a soccer man and he’s a fine soccer man. He plays with more passion for his country than any of us would ever threaten to but, more than that, he is a proud Derry man. He’s a Creggan man. As a sportsperson representing his parish with […]

10 years ago

Genius is never understood in its own time. There hasn’t been a divisive footballer like Diarmuid Connolly since 1884. There isn’t a divisive sportsman quite like him all over the world, barring maybe Cristiano Ronaldo or Floyd Mayweather. Type his name into Twitter. It’s one Dub professing their love for him followed up by three […]

10 years ago

Whenever a red card is wrongly dished out, or whenever it’s not given when it should be, we don’t cry about getting rid of the red card. No, we blame the referee. There’s nothing wrong with the logic of a red card and it’s purpose. It’s there for a reason and it serves to limit […]

10 years ago

Mayo and Dublin are great rivals. They’re the best of rivals. Whilst it might feel hollow and empty out west right now, they’ll be back next year and, come August, it will be Mayo and Dublin again looking likeliest to take Sam home with them at the end of the season. The pair bring the […]

10 years ago

The Spartans inspired him

10 years ago

*With more than 86,000 page views, this was our 9th most popular story of 2016 Grace. None of us would be where we are in this world without a little grace. No success story is without one moment of it. No-one has gotten to the top without someone, somewhere helping them along the way. Yes, […]

10 years ago

The only thing that’s missing from this tale of two of the greatest is Mayo’s success. They’re probably, almost definitely, the best side to never win an All-Ireland. They are perfect adversaries for the myth-like Dubs and, whatever recent history has taught us, you’d tune in every day of the week, every hour of the […]

10 years ago

Both Dublin and Mayo absolutely deserve more than this. The All-Ireland final replay on Saturday evening produced one of the most memorable sporting occasions in recent history. It was football, it was the GAA, it was Ireland at its very, very best. The two best in the land went toe to toe again and they […]

10 years ago

He can have the pick of them. Cormac Costello, you are what some would call you, a little dancer. Games are changed on decisions, seasons are defined on decisions. The decision, for example, to throw Rob Hennelly in from the start probably cost Mayo. The decision to black card Lee Keegan – and rightly so […]

10 years ago