The Jose Mourinho effect. Reports in Brazil are claiming that Manchester United have overtaken their city rivals in the race for one of the country’s brightest prospects. The Old Trafford outfit are said to have bid €35m for 19-year-old Gabriel Jesus, €3m more than what City have offered. And they’ve done this despite having a buyout […]

10 years ago

It’s that time of year again. Defensive football has been slated, competition structures looked at and now we’re onto the black card. Two dismissals of Tyrone players during the Ulster final has brought the card back into the spotlight and its purpose and application are all being debated yet again. The question begs though, if […]

10 years ago

Inter-county players don’t want to go out on the piss every night of the week. They train too hard, they give up too much time and they want to win too much to jeopardise it all with too many heavy nights of drinking. But they also don’t want to be treated like children. They don’t […]

10 years ago

Another stupid idea

10 years ago

This could honestly be the best football video ever

10 years ago

A taxi journey in the capital on a normal Friday morning goes something like this: – “Do you watch the football?” – “Aye, I was at the Dublin-Westmeath match on Sunday.” – “What do you think of that Connolly boy?” As divisive characters go, Diarmuid Connolly is in a whole other bracket. One that you […]

10 years ago

Well played, sir

10 years ago

Moneyball?

10 years ago

Diarmuid Connolly is a divisive character. That comes with the territory. You can’t be one of the greatest and expect everyone to love you and it’s certainly not the case with Dublin’s superstar who can do things with a football that most of us couldn’t even dream up. But you talk about ‘Dermo’s’ talent and […]

10 years ago

A touching, helpful gesture at a truly trying time. James McClean has come to the aid of another family in need with another act of breathtaking kindness. Derry was struck with tragedy this week when a two-year-old named Ronan McGavigan passed away after being hit with a car on the Lone Moor Road – where the […]

10 years ago

Just another man with a dream of playing in Croke Park

10 years ago

Fair play

10 years ago

Another mad double-header weekend ahead for a true Gael

10 years ago

This would be a massive, massive blow

10 years ago

Please make it stop. If the game wasn’t bad enough, sweeping our nations one by one and taking away our conversations – and friends – then the celebration could just be worse. Finnish outfit RoPS are responsible for bringing Pokémon Go to football and they’re responsible for all the kids you see doing this same […]

10 years ago

Suddenly, that September 3 bill has gotten a lot more exciting. Aisling Daly will fight at UFC Hamburg and Michelle Waterson will step into the octagon with her. The Irish MMA hero hasn’t fought since last October but, alas, she has found an opponent. Ireland's @aisydaly will meet @karatehottiemma at #UFCHamburg on Sept 3! VIP […]

10 years ago

The best score in Ulster championship history?

10 years ago

Not bad for a 34-year-old. Whilst Memphis Depay is still trying to prove that he gives a shit, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is indifferent to the whole thing. https://www.instagram.com/p/BHO4-GDDU6j/ Manchester United’s newest recruit doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone and doesn’t he just know it. Doesn’t he just love it. Ahead of his debut season at […]

10 years ago

A measure of his humility

10 years ago

Everyone else wants him now

10 years ago

Let’s get it on. Westmeath’s reward for losing to Dublin is a face-off with Mayo. The last football qualifier draw has been made and, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake, the fever is real. After the culmination of the provincial championships at the weekend, the remaining qualifier teams were pitted with the losing […]

10 years ago

This is what the GAA is all about

10 years ago

If you’re pulling off rabona kicks in five-a-side, you’d want to be a damn good footballer. Anyone with skill in a local knock-about is a “cocky, show-off such and such”. Anyone enjoying themselves or trying something audacious is a free target. The warrant goes out to end that f**ker’s game. Keep it simple, and all […]

10 years ago

This is how much it means to them. Football is the most powerful drug in some parts of the world and the Tyrone natives wouldn’t stop until they managed to relive the same highs they had experienced in 2010 and the decade previous. Five seasons is a long time in the Red Hand county without […]

10 years ago

Of all the people for Derry men to envy, one name tops the bill. Growing up, it was easy to hate Sean Cavanagh. He was tough, he was skillful, he was too powerful to stop in his tracks. He was successful and he was damn well relentless. You mix that with the fact that he’s […]

10 years ago

Does it really matter if Dublin are beating teams in Leinster or in Connacht or in Ulster? There’s nothing more unfulfilling than a one-sided contest and, unfortunately, it happens too often in Gaelic Football. What’s worse is that there’s not a whole lot you can do to really address the issue properly. Split the championship […]

10 years ago

“He can get a bit excited”

10 years ago

We’re going streaking…

10 years ago

Some of the national press gathered around a modest TV set in the Croke Park media centre to watch the Ulster final. Ahead of what was being dubbed as a turkey shoot for Dublin against Westmeath, neither the Kildare or Laois minors were feeling the love from a select few who sat inside during the […]

10 years ago

We’ve all been told white lies the whole way through our lives. Simple things to help us get by every day and the principle is the same when it comes to our GAA careers. There’s a mixture of talent and personality in every GAA club, especially at underage level and, as the young hands and feet […]

10 years ago

Gaelic football is more than a distraction. Long after the players had left the field and the shakes of the MacHale Park stand were finally beginning to ease from the roars and jumps and physical passion that had it rocking on its hinges on Saturday afternoon, a number of kids hung around and they weren’t […]

10 years ago

F-bombs completely understandable

10 years ago

The apprentice that became a hero, the hero that became a villain, the villain that won back our hearts. It was a strange paradox, Sunday night. One of the greatest footballers that ever lived went off the field and, by not playing, he received more love. The sight of Ronaldo being reduced to tears when […]

10 years ago

Sure if you didn’t laugh you’d cry. Let’s get the scoreline out of the way so we don’t have to mention it again: Tipperary 5-19* Waterford 0-13. *Not a typo. Sunday started out with hope. Munster final day. The Deise county having disposed of Clare, rolling to Limerick with anything possible. Waterford fans weren’t feeling […]

10 years ago

Football’s best-loved son could be seen a lot less around the Premier League next season. Juan Mata’s position at Manchester United has been under increasing speculation ever since Jose Mourinho arrived at Old Trafford and there’s been no end to his transfer speculation. Last month, the 28-year-old was off to Barcelona. Apparently. This month, he’s […]

10 years ago

Arsene Wenger has told Thierry Henry to choose: Arsenal or Sky Sports. We can’t be sure exactly how the striking legend took the news but we can only imagine. Henry works with Arsenal’s junior sides but he has been issued an ultimatum by Arsene Wenger to either wave goodbye to his £4m-a-year Sky job, or […]

10 years ago

Celebrations just got out of hand

10 years ago

So how much is Jeff Hendrick worth then?

10 years ago

Mick O’Dowd is not happy with the standard of punditry in the GAA. The Meath man retired as football manager on Saturday night after four years of service to the senior team came to an end in Derry. https://soundcloud.com/user-787320910/football-show-2-mp3 But he went down swinging with a stinging rebuke of the level of analysis in the […]

10 years ago

Talk about getting carried away with themselves

10 years ago

“We played a league final on the 21st of December last year even though the county season ended at the start of July”

10 years ago

Cristiano Ronaldo: a leader of men. There was a moment of clarity for the football world on Sunday night. The Portugal captain went down for a final time and it was clear that he wouldn’t be getting back up. His fans were distraught for him. Football people who appreciate both his greatness and his work […]

10 years ago

Brave, courageous foresight. It’s hard to wave goodbye to a legend. It’s hard to bid a fitting farewell to an icon of Irish sport and Irish television, especially after a Portugal and France game. RTÉ gave it a right good go on Sunday night though. After 31 years, the station aired Mr Johnny Giles as […]

10 years ago

Cavan and Derry will lock horns in the All-Ireland Senior Football Qualifiers this weekend. The Ulster pair were drawn together on Monday morning for round three of the backdoor system and their clash was the tie of the round. The Oak Leafers ousted Cavan by a point in the league in Breffni Park earlier in […]

10 years ago

The GAA must act now before it’s too late

10 years ago

Six minutes on the clock and Fermanagh are somehow still hanging on. They’ve been up against it for the best part of half an hour at this stage. The elements are blowing in their faces, Mayo are coming in droves and there looks to be no end to it. The crowd are baying for blood. […]

10 years ago

Brought to you by AIB GAA It’s do or die for Mayo. Stephen Rochford takes the Connacht champions into their first qualifier game since 2010 and last season’s big success from the backdoor wait in the long grass. Fermanagh head for Castlebar on Saturday (throw-in 3.30pm) planning an ambush in the same fashion that dumped […]

10 years ago

They never fail

10 years ago

His time has come

10 years ago

Now it’s personal. Yes, we were all quite happy to see Wales progress at Euro 2016 and, sure, we all enjoyed a bit of relative success of our own in France that will probably galvanize both respective nations going into the next campaign. But the next campaign sees the Irish and the Welsh go head-to-head […]

10 years ago