Immigrants now account for ten per cent of the Irish population yet it’s rare we talk to them when we’re not at the McDonald’s drive-through. Stuck with low paying jobs Irish people don’t want to do, lodged in housing Irish people don’t want to live in and hidden from a society that treats their presence […]
Now we’ll see how hard line Michel Platini really is. At the Stade Felix-Bollaert in Lens on Tuesday, Lille effortlessly undermined their sprightly, hard working performance against Manchester United with a display of petulance which could easily have enflamed a tense situation on the terraces. Football is always greater than the sum of its parts, […]
On May 5th, Floyd Mayweather Jnr (37-0, 24 KO’s) challenges Oscar De La Hoya (38-4, 30 KO’s) for the WBC world light-middleweight title at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. Not only is Mayweather’s 100% professional record still intact, but he has won world titles in four divisions, from junior-lightweight to welterweight. De La […]
The so-called 'relegation battle', that joyous struggle for survival which permeates the entirety of Premiership coverage in the month of May (as X, Y or Z have already won the title and have begun showboating in earnest by that stage), can take on many different guises. At the core of this principle are the Shylock […]
There are few transgressions less forgivable than that of supporting a second football team. If football is a ritual replication of warfare, then adopting a second squad is rightly seen as nothing short of mercenary. Peruse the fan forums on the sites of any of the Irish Eircom league teams’ websites and you’ll see a […]
Manchester United, more so than any other football club, is beset with icons. The legacy of Old Trafford is and always will be underpinned by the memories of those men who fought, and even died, for their cause. This is not to say that United are alone in this sentiment, for all teams have their […]
He's barely sat down in his seat. With one swig taken from his orange juice the pulp nestles on the neck of the glass. The all too familiar catch call rings in his ears.“Look! It's that bollocks off RTE”.“Keep your voice down there, there's one fella after calling me a bollocks already”, Pat Spillane admonishes […]
To claim that the Republic of Ireland football team is swirling in a quagmire of shit is a bit of an understatement. In truth, Ireland's fate in Group 4 of the World Cup 2006 qualifiers was as predictable as that of a drunk farmer from Cavan trying to take on Mr. T, armed only with […]
Arsene Wenger has long been regarded as somewhat of a football enigma. He is a respected manager, who espouses confidence in both himself and his team. He speaks like a child of the enlightenment, an apparent champion of football purity. The eleven players that he sends onto a football pitch, be it at Highbury, the […]
The Cricket Renaissance. Some are still stuck in the closet, but the number of people coming out over the past couple of weeks has been steadily increasing. What was merely a trickle, a few stray souls, has now become a recognisable minority: Irish cricket fans. Cricket can be seen in two ways, at least from […]
