Liverpool are top of the league at Christmas and they can thank Virgil Van Dijk. Virgil Van Dijk took Liverpool four points clear at the top of the Premier League when they beat Wolves on Friday but can they still be there in May? On The Football Spin, Paddy McKenna and Dion Fanning are joined […]

8 years ago

Jose Mourinho is gone. Manchester United announced on Tuesday morning that Jose Mourinho had left the club with immediate effect and they will hope the decision will have an immediate effect. United now look for yet another manager as they try to come to terms with the post-Alex Ferguson era but will they get it […]

8 years ago

It may not have been a decisive moment in the title race, but it seemed like an important one in the history of Manchester United. Shaqiri’s goals may have made the difference at Anfield, but, as they moved back to the top of the Premier League, what did his signing say about Liverpool’s approach this […]

8 years ago

If you make one mistake, the quiz ends

8 years ago

Welcome to the 8th annual Wooly Awards. 10 categories, 10 lucky, lucky winers. It’s not like it’s exactly the same as the Father Ted Golden Cleric ceremony where Colm Parkinson has a lot of stuff to get off his chest… but he has a lot of stuff to get off his chest. So whilst there […]

8 years ago

Brought to you by AIB “Slight mistake during the second track…” In case you haven’t heard, former Republic of Ireland footballer Kevin Kilbane is a DJ now. When we last saw him, he was seeking the help of Groove Armada. Now though, the time has finally come. DJ Killa is officially on the decks for […]

8 years ago

Alisson Becker’s last minute save kept Liverpool in the Champions League. If Alisson and Virgil Van Dijk showed why Liverpool spent so much money on them at Anfield, Spurs were making the case for their own financial model. On The Football Spin, Paddy McKenna makes a case for a Spurs-led Brexit and asks what they […]

8 years ago

Brought to you by Carling “Just cap the boy.” Tim Sherwood has some advice for the FAI regarding players with dual-nationality. At a Carling Premier League roadshow, Sherwood said that the Republic of Ireland must cap dual-nationality players at an early age to avoid situations like those they have experienced with Jack Grealish and Declan […]

8 years ago

By Daire Walsh Clontarf (Dublin) 8-14 Emmet Óg (Monaghan) 2-5 Republic of Ireland women’s international Siobhan Killeen grabbed an astonishing haul of 5-4 at Parnell Park to propel Clontarf towards an historic All-Ireland Ladies Intermediate Club Championship Football title win. They finished with all of 27 points to spare over Emmet Óg of Monaghan and, […]

8 years ago

Jordan Pickford, what have you done? A week ago, Liverpool were moments away from falling four points behind Manchester City, but then Jordan Pickford intervened and now their 19th title seems inevitable. Liverpool are a point clear at the top of the table after Chelsea beat Manchester City, Mo Salah is scoring freely and Manchester […]

8 years ago

By Daire Walsh Mourneabbey 1-13 Foxrock-Cabinteely 1-7 Driven on by the heartbreak of final defeats in three out of the past four seasons, Mourneabbey were finally crowned All-Ireland Ladies Senior Club Football champions with an emphatic triumph over Foxrock-Cabinteely at Parnell Park. The Cork outfit came up short in the 2014, 2015 and 2017 deciders, but […]

8 years ago

Guinness have secured a new six-year sponsorship deal with the Six Nations that will see the beer brand serve as the primary sponsor of the competition until at least 2025. The deal builds on Guinness’ sponsorship of the November internationals and the PRO14 as well as additional support of the four Home Unions and leading Irish […]

8 years ago

Go on then Liverpool fans. Do your worst.

8 years ago

Manchester United and Arsenal rolled back the clock at Old Trafford with an aggressive if comical game at Old Trafford but was there any point? Jose Mourinho will, depending on his mood, stress the positives or stress something else but the sense of a club treading water continues while Unai Emery will be annoyed Arsenal […]

8 years ago

Good luck. How many county crests do you think you can recognise? Think you know your Yeatsmen from your Pikemen? Well, this is the quiz for you. We’ve scrubbed out all writing on the crests to make it a proper challenge, but there are enough clues for you to have a good guess at those familiar but unrecognisable images […]

8 years ago

From the spice boy to the free-taker, club changing rooms are filled with all sorts of characters. Every GAA team has the same, wild blend of personalities inhabiting their pitches and, from the most committed to the flakiest of club members, we’ve all played ball or shared a dressing room with all the text-book cases. […]

8 years ago

Brought to you by AIB “It’s a nervy one now.” As we showed you last week, former Republic of Ireland footballer Kevin Kilbane is having a go at being a DJ. While we haven’t yet gotten used to calling him “DJ Killa,” this is something the 110-cap international has always wanted. Despite having absolutely no […]

8 years ago

Jordan Pickford’s moment of madness decided the Merseyside derby. What went through Pickford’s mind at that moment is hard to say, but it was one of the most dramatic conclusions to a Merseyside derby since Gary McAllister’s injury-time free kick in 2001. Everton failed to win at Anfield again and are still looking for a […]

8 years ago

Brought to you by AIB “I’m very confused, but I can work out what play and pause means…” Having won 110 caps for the Republic of Ireland, Kevin Kilbane has nothing left to prove on the football pitch. Now that he’s hung up his boots, he’s decided it’s time to pick up a set of […]

8 years ago

The champ is hanging up his gloves and released an emotional video. Throughout the eight films that feature Rocky Balboa, we’ve seen ‘The Italian Stallion’ suffer his fair share of defeats and setbacks. Of course, he went the distance against the world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed but ultimately lost the fight. Clubber Lang sent the champ to the […]

8 years ago

On a day when Ballybrack made the headlines, a club working in a galaxy far, far away bounced back. Neymar led PSG to victory over Liverpool but will they ever be loved? Liverpool now face a tense final game against Napoli at Anfield in two weeks but can they be confident after losing every away […]

8 years ago

Brought to you by MACE The award was given to an All Blacks player for eight of the past 10 years. Having steered Ireland to a Grand Slam, a series win in Australia, and victory against the All Blacks, Johnny Sexton is in the running for World Rugby Player of the Year 2018. Should he […]

8 years ago

By Aaron McNally Stephen Kenny is one of the favourites to take over from Martin O’Neill as Irish boss. Many people think he would do a great job as the Irish gaffer off the back of his unrivalled success with Dundalk in the League of Ireland – and, indeed, in Europe too – but others […]

8 years ago

By Aaron McNally The definition of commitment. Kieran Molloy had a great spring of 2018. His club Corofin were to play in the All-Ireland semi-final against Moorefield and his university, NUIG, had a Sigerson Cup final date with UCD. Usually this would be brilliant. The only problem for Molloy? They were on the same day, […]

8 years ago

And now the countdown begins. September 22 is going to come in fast. Scotland in Japan in the Rugby World Cup. The preparation is getting better and better, a Six Nations built on with a Grand Slam. A win over New Zealand built on with a win over New Zealand. 10 months out and every […]

8 years ago

By Aaron McNally This is the future. There are some great young players already lighting up the top level of the GAA such as David Clifford, Aaron Gillane and Brian Howard, but what about younger players you may not have heard about just yet? Here are 10 hot prospects to look out for in the […]

8 years ago

Passion, character, never settling for anything less. If you talk to anyone about Peter O’Mahony, they’ll talk about the same thing. His drive. His hunger. They’ll tell you about the days in Presentation College when he’d have the team training indoors in the off-season and batting balls down the gym hall that weren’t thrown up […]

8 years ago

Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane have left their positions by mutual agreement, but what now for Irish football? Is this a good day for the national team? On The Football Spin, Dion Fanning, Paddy McKenna and Rob Redmond reflect on what the news means for Irish football, what should happen now and why is Sven-Goran […]

8 years ago

– Baz & Andrew’s House of Rugby, Together with GUINNESS – By Aaron McNally Peter O’Mahony couldn’t be stopped on Saturday evening. He won turnover after turnover, caught lineout after lineout and made a massive try-saving interception at a crucial part of the game. After 64 minutes of running himself into the ground and hitting […]

8 years ago

By Aaron McNally There were some good times. After five years together, the Republic of Ireland have parted ways with Martin O’Neill. O’Neill led Ireland to Euro 2016 and into the knockout stages there and the country was just one game away from reaching the 2018 World Cup too. Although the form took a huge […]

8 years ago

By Aaron McNally Time’s up for O’Neill. Martin O’Neill and Republic of Ireland parted ways on Wednesday morning leaving the country in search of a new boss. Who should take over from the Derry man? There are six favourites in the running. Mick McCarthy 8/11 McCarthy is the favourite to succeed O’Neill as the manager […]

8 years ago

By Aaron McNally Martin O’Neill was under a lot of pressure from sections of the country after Ireland got hammered 5-1 by Denmark last November and, just over a year on, not much has changed. O’Neill is still under huge pressure from the same people with more piling on and his days might even be […]

8 years ago

Ireland went out on a high. Or at least it wasn’t a crushing low. With the country talking about rugby, Ireland’s footballer had a chance to remind them that they too can ride a wave of popularity, but instead they managed to avoid defeat to Denmark, which had some people talking about positives. But are there […]

8 years ago

By Aaron McNally Ireland’s last game until March. And it’s a meaningless one for both the Republic and Denmark but Martin O’Neill is under a lot of pressure and will want his first win since the victory over Wales in the World Cup qualifying last October. The manager will also want to look to the […]

8 years ago

There has also been a request for a minute’s silence. The Republic of Ireland team will wear black armbands as a mark of respect for the Irish fan who died on Sunday morning in Copenhagen. Police in the city found the remains of a 30-year-old man in the harbour of the Danish city. Ireland play […]

8 years ago

Compiled by Jackie Cahill A new name will be etched on the Dolores Tyrrell Memorial Cup on December 8. Senior semis Cork’s Mourneabbey and Dublin outfit Foxrock-Cabinteely will battle it out for All-Ireland Ladies Senior Club Football glory in a month’s time. While both sides have contested finals in recent times, neither has managed to […]

8 years ago

“It looks like I’m going to eat some humble pie.” On his appearance on JOE UK’s House of Rugby two weeks ago, Mike Tindall expressed his doubts about whether Ireland could win the World Cup next summer. The former England captain, who won the World Cup in 2003, claimed that Ireland were unlikely to be victorious in […]

8 years ago

World Rugby will announce their 2018 player of the year at the end of November. And surely Johnny Sexton’s time has come. In 2018, Sexton has: Kicked 99 points, including that 42-metre drop goal against France that put Ireland on course for the Grand Slam. Won all nine Test matches he has started. Won the Six […]

8 years ago

“We trust our defence so much.” Luke McGrath has explained why he kicked the ball back to New Zealand in dying minutes of Ireland’s historic victory on Saturday evening. Joe Schmidt’s team beat the All Blacks for the first time on Irish soil, winning a dramatic game 16-9 at the Aviva Stadium. Jacob Stockdale’s incredible […]

8 years ago

“For now, the baton of world’s best has been passed to Ryan.”

8 years ago

Great. Just fucking great. Germany have been relegated from League A to League B of the UEFA Nations League after the Netherlands beat France 2-0 last night to take their points total up to six after three matches. A goal on the brink of half-time from Gini Wijnaldum gave the Oranje a lead to protect […]

8 years ago

Some things are more important. Making a Murderer might well have taken over Netflix and the head space of crime nerds – and, let’s face it, anyone with a moral compass too – but it hasn’t been ignored by the sporting world either. On Thursday’s GAA Hour show, the decision to allow Dublin to continue […]

8 years ago

Gary Lineker wants his country back. The Englishman is watching with dismay as the United Kingdom descends into chaos. Brexit negotiations are promising nothing but bleakness for the greater British community and they’re being met with nothing but resistance and resignations as Theresa May stumbles from one press conference to another trying to clean up […]

8 years ago

Brought to you by STATSports It has played a huge role in the team’s success Ever wonder what the small box on the back of rugby players’ collars is? It’s not some half-hearted padding, it’s actually a GPS tracking device that provides incredibly detailed performance data. From seeing where they were at any point in the […]

8 years ago

The Brexit derby is getting tasty. The meeting of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is just another drab friendly, but the Michael Obafemi developments and the Brexit deal which seems to be moving the island closer to unity has made it more interesting. On The Football Spin, Paddy McKenna and Dion Fanning discuss […]

8 years ago

The Chicago Wolfe Tones. The mighty blue and white. The force of Gaelic Park. A second home for some of the finest GAA stock that ever was, is and will be. We’re not talking about a few lads who’ve played a bit of minor, some who’ve made it as far as Sigerson or others who […]

8 years ago

Brought to you by Guinness The only show in town this weekend It’s been billed as the most anticipated match of this season’s autumn internationals, if not the entire year. The all-conquering All Blacks come to Dublin as the world’s number one team, against an Irish side ranked number two. Especially just a year out […]

8 years ago

Juventus beat AC Milan thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s heroics. Cristiano Ronaldo played a big role in Serie A leaders Juventus’ 2-0 win over AC Milan, not just in scoring a goal but helping to deny his opponents from the penalty spot. The Turin team went 1-0 up thanks to a goal from Mario Mandžukić eight-minutes in, […]

8 years ago

Jose Mourinho says Manchester United didn’t play badly against Manchester City. By the standards set by Mourinho at the club, maybe he is right. Maybe United were unlucky. They certainly are unlucky to have Mourinho as manager while Pep Guardiola transforms the Premier League at Manchester’s other club. United lost to City with a performance […]

8 years ago

Paul Galvin should be getting royalties for this one! The Galway hurlers are Down Under in Sydney at the moment for the Wild Geese Cup against Kilkenny this weekend. The two Leinster counties were chosen to take part in the event on the back of their winning of the last two Allianz National Hurling League […]

8 years ago