By Cathal Dennehy He knows what they say, the critics tapping away on keyboards with anonymous cloaks. Shane Ryan has read the comments on message boards by those who heard his accent and concluded – without a fair trial – that the American-born swimmer was using Ireland as a country of convenience. If they met […]

7 years ago

By DARAGH SMALL Michelle Ryan hadn’t played like that since her primary school days, but she was on top form last weekend, bagging 3-3 in the Lidl National Football League Division 2 semi-final victory over Cavan. Waterford through-and-through, Ryan is desperate to see a former superpower back to the top-table of Ladies football, and having secured […]

7 years ago

Short-term thinking will kill a football club

7 years ago

By Cathal Dennehy Her routine is simple, its execution less so: three to four hours a day on the water, another 90 minutes in the gym – 14 to 16 sessions each week, all adding up to one exhausted athlete by the time Jenny Egan crumples into bed on a Saturday night. “I have a […]

7 years ago

By Daragh Ó Conchúir Tipperary 0-14 Kilkenny 0-8 LONG-SERVING captain Sabrina Larkin has played at Senior level for more than a decade for Tipperary without much tangible success and there was no hiding her joy as she delivered her speech after the Premiers bagged their first Littlewoods Ireland Camogie League Division 2 title. Larkin was […]

7 years ago

By Kevin Egan  Galway manager Tim Rabbitte wants to see his side hit new heights against Cork in the Lidl National Football League Division 1 final after they eased past Donegal in the last four. A blistering start and a strong second-half ensured Galway had far too much and when Megan Glynn finished off a […]

7 years ago

By Daragh Small Cork 1-18 Dublin 2-14 Cork manager Ephie Fitzgerald believes his young side have the potential to return to past glories, as they clung on for an inspirational victory over champions Dublin in the Lidl National Football League Division 1 semi-final. Cork haven’t contested a league final since they won five-in-a-row between 2013 and […]

7 years ago

Why is Ole at the wheel? Manchester United were humiliated at Goodison Park on Sunday and anger is understandably being directed at the players. But is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the right man to be in charge of the massive rebuilding job required at the club? There is nothing in his record to suggest he is. […]

7 years ago

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said that some of the players on his squad need a reality check following their 4-0 aggregate loss to Barcelona on Tuesday. The Red Devils were dumped from the Champions League quarter-finals by the La Liga leaders with Lionel Messi scoring twice to sink Solskjaer’s side at the […]

7 years ago

By Daragh Ó Conchúir SOME things in Aoife Prendergast’s life are more straightforward than others. Right now, she is struggling to map out her future in terms of a career or profession, finding something she might really have a passion for rather than just a means of paying the bills. There has never been any […]

7 years ago

By Daragh Small ‘It was a gamble that I took’ The inside joke in Raheen every Sunday evening is: “We might see you Friday, Niamh.” Niamh Ryan’s housemates know better than anyone else the sacrifices she has made to reach the top of the Ladies Football game, and this year she will combine camogie with […]

7 years ago

Think you know your stuff? Over the years, some of the greatest football players on earth have togged out for the Premier League. From bitter rivalries like that of Roy Keane and Patrick Viera to unforgettable moments like Sergio Aguaro’s 94th-minute title winning goal, it’s been one hell of a ride. Actually, it wouldn’t be […]

7 years ago

VAR-What is it good for? Quite a lot, really. When the executive committee of UEFA announced last December in Dublin that they would be introducing VAR from the knockout stages of the Champions League this season, they started a process which culminated in a once-in-a-generation event at the Etihad on Wednesday night. VAR’s intervention to […]

7 years ago

As if the Champions League knockout stages needed any seasoning on top, the layers being peeled away from the FAI story are offering more flavour for the already spoilt football fans. Change is coming to the FAI with Donal Conway confirming the intention of the Association’s board to step down once new structures are put […]

7 years ago

What a weekend of sport. What a weekend for Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods’ comeback might be one of the greatest stories in the history of sport, but it is golf, after all. The Premier League title race meanwhile continues to grip. Liverpool produced one of their best performances in recent months to beat Chelsea, but […]

7 years ago

By Daragh Small Sinead O’Sullivan has worn green and gold at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney, but this weekend blue will be the colour of choice. The Kerry native plays inter-county football for her adopted county of Cavan, where she now lives and works, and on Sunday she will face off against the county she grew […]

7 years ago

Katie Taylor, Roy Keane, Sonia O’Sullivan. We in Ireland love a winner. But if there’s one thing we love more than a winner, it’s a plucky loser, an underdog, a ‘nearly man’. Their names are as legendary as those who have eclipsed their achievements. With the 83rd edition of The Masters teeing off on Thursday […]

7 years ago

He also assisted Benfica’s only other goal 19-year-old Benfica forward Joao Felix had a night to remember for the Eagles on Thursday evening, bagging himself a hattrick and an assist in a 4-2 demolition of Bundesliga team Eintracht Frankfurt. The wonderkid has been something of a sensation in his first full season as part of […]

7 years ago

Brought to you by Cadbury Anyone fancy an Easter egg hunt? It has to be said that Easter is a seriously underrated holiday. I mean, Easter Sunday is a day that some of us dedicate to finding and eating chocolate eggs. What’s not to love about that? Seeing as Easter is only around the corner, Cadbury […]

7 years ago

What now for the FAI? An FAI delegation, including former CEO John Delaney, appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport on Wednesday. What was achieved by the marathon session and is the association now going to have to change? On The Football Spin, Paddy McKenna and Dion Fanning discuss the day’s […]

7 years ago

“We’ve beaten some of the best amateur sides in London to get to the final.” A club established by UCC alumni are just one game away from winning one of the most prestigious and competitive tournaments in British amateur football. UCC Diaspora FC take on HFSP & Ten-Em-Bee FC on Friday evening in the final of the […]

7 years ago

They will answer questions on governance issues that have arose in recent weeks

7 years ago

Salah didn’t even get a booking for this Liverpool overcame reigning Portuguese champions Porto at Anfield on Tuesday night, securing a comfortable 2-0 victory thanks to first-half goals from Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino. But just like Tottenham Hotspur versus Manchester City, the other Champions League tie on the night, the encounter wasn’t without controversy […]

7 years ago

On Monday, the FAI confirmed that John Delaney would appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Wednesday. They also wrote in a statement that ‘some recent comments made by the FAI did not accurately reflect the Board’s level of awareness of the existence of the €100,000 issue in 2017’. On Tuesday, Sport Ireland moved to suspend […]

7 years ago

How much does Mesut Ozil want it? On Sunday, Arsenal lost away from home again and Mesut Ozil was taken off as his side chased the game. But Ozil wasn’t done, throwing his coat in the direction of Marco Silva late in the game. Ozil last started an away Premier League game in December against […]

7 years ago

Mo Salah may have picked a good time to find his form again. Liverpool are back on top of the table thanks to Mo Salah’s 50th Premier League but how tense is this title race going to get? Manchester City appear to be winning effortlessly but Liverpool’s persistence is keeping them in the race, even […]

7 years ago

By Daragh Small On Wednesday afternoon, Cpt. Siobhan O’Sullivan was in the Belgian city of Liege learning about the Battle of the Bulge, unable to attend training with her team-mates back home. On Sunday, she takes on her native county Sligo in Kildare colours for the first time, and she only arrived back in Ireland […]

7 years ago

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea could be set to leave Old Trafford this summer with PSG reportedly set to meet his wage demands. The Spanish international signed a one-year contract extension earlier this season that will keep him in Manchester until the summer of 2020 and according to The Independent PSG would be willing to […]

7 years ago

Brought to you by Fairyhouse Racecourse Here’s hoping we get the weather to match the racing! It’s a race that has been run every year since 1870, but it’s lost none of its significance for Irish racing fans. The BoyleSports Irish Grand National isn’t just up there with the most iconic races on these shores, […]

7 years ago

There was a time when Galway seemed immune to or unaware of the tactical evolution of Camogie. Looking from the outside, Cathal Murray thought that it left them defensively open so when the Sarsfields hurling manager took over after the 2018 Littlewoods Ireland Camogie League, he focussed on making them hard to beat. A former […]

7 years ago

By Declan Rooney Some weekend of ladies football. Kerry 6-11 Wexford 2-11 Kerry ladies manager Donal O’Doherty said his side are determined to reach the Lidl National Football League Division 2 semi-finals after their six-goal triumph over Wexford put them within a point of a slot in the last four. Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh and Sarah […]

7 years ago

By Daragh Ó Conchúir Galway 0-16 Kilkenny 2-8 THE celebrations were measured but this was an important day for Galway. It wasn’t just that they had beaten one of the giants of their sport, a four-in-a-row chasing Kilkenny in the Littlewoods Ireland Camogie League Division 1 Final. It was that they did so after staring down […]

7 years ago

Is Liverpool’s name on the title? After Liverpool’s tense and lucky win against Tottenham on Sunday, many people on all sides of the debate believed that maybe, just maybe, it is. Jordan Pickford and Hugo Lloris have made important contributions for Liverpool at critical stages of the season, but nothing could be more important than […]

7 years ago

The wait it is over! Mayo ended their long running league drought with a four-point win over Kerry in Croke Park. A late goal from Ciarán Treacy ensured that Mayo would secure their first league title since 2001 and captain Diarmuid O’Connor said that the westerners would try their very best to make sure that the […]

7 years ago

By Daragh Ó Conchúir It is hard to get your head around the fact that Danielle Morrissey is still only 18. Okay, she turns 19 next month, but the first year health science student at WIT is already in her third season on the Kilkenny squad that bids for a fourth consecutive Littlewoods Ireland Camogie […]

7 years ago

It was supposed to be Brexit day, instead it is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s week. The attempts to leave the EU may have become like the ‘living dead’ in the UK cabinet, but Manchester United’s attempts to reclaim their glorious past are going a little better thanks to the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer permanently on […]

7 years ago

Kilkenny are on the brink of joining very rare company in becoming a four-in-a-row Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues Division 1-winning outfit. Despite having gotten the better of All-Ireland champions Cork in the Semi-Final however, the presence of Galway in the opposite corner ensures that they will have to dig very deep indeed if they are […]

7 years ago

By Daragh Small When Ciara Harvey began to find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning, and couldn’t lift the kettle, she really started to get worried. The then 19-year-old was on the back of a long arduous season with club and county but the pains and aches that plagued her body […]

7 years ago

By Declan Rooney Cork Cork manager Ephie Fitzgerald saluted his side’s fighting spirit as they pulled clear of a determined Mayo in the final stages to qualify for the Lidl NFL Division 1 semi-final. Just three points separates the top four teams in the division, but Cork, Dublin, Donegal and Galway are all guaranteed semi-finals […]

7 years ago

Another weekend of statements from the FAI. It has been a weekend of change at the FAI. On Saturday night, the association announced that John Delaney would step aside from his position as CEO and take up a new role as executive vice president. Rea Walshe became interim CEO and the search for a new […]

7 years ago

It was a bleak St. Patrick’s Day in Cardiff as the Irish Women’s team lost 24-5 to Wales. Ireland dominated some early possession and they were first to score through teenager Beibhinn Parsons but they failed to kick on after that. We struggled in the set-piece, an area which I thought in advance of the […]

7 years ago

Sport Ireland say that it is seeking urgent clarification from the FAI regarding a €100,000 loan to the organisation by its Chief Executive, John Delaney, including the circumstances of the loan and its repayment. In a statement issued on Tuesday night, Sport Ireland requested an explanation for the bridging loan, which was made in 2017. “Sport […]

7 years ago

By Aaron McNally “He just inspires confidence” VWhen Liverpool made Virgil van Dijk the most expensive defender ever when they splashed out £75 million bringing him from St Mary’s to Anfield in January 2018, many people doubted this move and said that it was a waste of money. Over two years on and the move by Jurgen […]

7 years ago

By Aaron McNally Now three belts in the bank. She’s coming for the fourth. On the 26th of November 2016, Katie Taylor made her pro debut at the SSE Wembley Arena, where she beat Karina Kopinska with a third-round KO. 27 months and 12 more wins on and Taylor is a unified lightweight world champion, holding […]

7 years ago

By Aaron McNally It’s going to be a huge day next Sunday. A massive day of penultimate fixtures unfolded on Saturday as things became a little clearer in the National Football League. There are promotion places to be fought for, relegation to avoid and there are also teams looking to make it through to championship time unscathed as […]

7 years ago

31-0… and you f**ked it up. Scotland retain the Calcutta Cup after the game of the tournament ended in simply spectacular fashion. 29 minutes in, England had already bagged a bonus point as they raced into a seemingly insurmountable lead having gone four converted tries and a penalty ahead. 50 minutes later, Scotland were ahead […]

7 years ago

By Daragh Ó Conchúir. OFFALY maintained their position in the top tier of the Littlewoods Ireland Camogie League as a result of their 4-15 to 1-6 romp over Wexford at Manguard Plus Hawkfield in Newbridge. Barry Kennedy came in for his first game as Wexford manager and the Buffers Alley man was left in little […]

7 years ago

By Declan Rooney Cork delivered their best performance of the season so far as they brushed aside Donegal in their Lidl NFL Division 1 clash at Pairc Ui Rinn on Saturday. Having lost their previous two home games the Cork side were determined not to lose this one as they were far too strong for […]

7 years ago

David and Gareth Rees are fans of the Welsh rugby team. Like most Wales fans, they’ll be hoping for the country’s first Grand Slam since 2012 when the Dragons take on Ireland at the Principality Stadium this afternoon but they’ve been a little more invested in the team’s fortunes than most. Their late-mother, Olive, left […]

7 years ago

By Aaron McNally Just two teams left standing, only one can prevail. Croke Park on Paddy’s Day is where every club wants to be but only two can make it there every year. After yet another year of brilliant club action filled with heartwarming underdog stories and some brilliant encounters, we are left with two […]

7 years ago