Pep Guardiola says Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne asked to be taken off in Manchester City’s Champions League quarter final loss to Real Madrid. Having gone behind early on thanks to a goal from Rodrygo, Manchester City subsequently dominated the game but they struggled to break through Real Madrid’s resolute defence. Erling Haaland, Jack […]

2 years ago

It was a terrific Tuesday at Cheltenham Don’t bet against a wonderful Wednesday. Keep up with all the action in our live-blog below. Related links: How the Premier League will be decided if three teams finish level with the same goal difference and goals scored Frank Lampard defends Rashford and young England players amid drinking […]

2 years ago

It’s almost time for the famous Cheltenham roar. Keep up with all the drama of The 2024 Cheltenham Festival Day One right here in our live blog above. (It might take one minute to load.) Cheltenham one-man-show. Willie Mullins’ stranglehold over the National Hunt game has perhaps never been as pronounced. The Irish-based trainer will […]

2 years ago

18+ | begambleaware.org There are only three certainties in life. Death, taxes, and a pre-Cheltenham accumulator that someone is going to label as a dead cert. Results and near misses have admittedly alerted us to the fact that, in horse racing, at Cheltenham undoubtedly, there is no such thing as a ‘dead-cert.’ The famous hill […]

2 years ago

It’s often we criticise referees, it’s rare that we praise them. But this is a time for praise. And Pol van Boekel deserves lots of it. According to the rules, the Dutchman could have booked Mohammed Kudus when the Ghanaian took off his shirt in celebration of his goal against Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday night. […]

3 years ago

McIlroy and Reed have always had a testy relationship. Having been blanked by Rory McIlroy on the driving range at the Emirates golf club in Dubai, it is being reported that former US Masters champion Patrick Reed threw a tee in the Northern Irish man’s direction in disgust. The Texan had acknowledged McIlroy’s caddie Harry […]

3 years ago

‘He deserved this.’ Michael Smith is the World Champion, he’s the world number one but he’s still modest. The St Helens player was reluctant to praise himself in his post-match interview as world champion, and that was when his opponent Michael van Gerwen came over to do it for him. “In this moment, this man […]

3 years ago

There can be no question. That is the greatest leg the sport has ever seen. Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen went dart for dart in the third leg of the second set of this World Championship final as, for one of the first time in darts history, less than 20 darts were thrown by […]

3 years ago

When Argentina and the Netherlands are involved, there’s always tension and there’s often trouble. The football can be brilliant, and a row is never too far away. What more could you want? And that’s exactly how it was this Friday, in what was one of the most absorbing World Cup games there’s ever been. In […]

3 years ago

As far as Cristiano Ronaldo’s concerned, the whole thing’s gone a little bit crazy Need proof? What about the birds-eye picture taken before Portugal’s clash with Switzerland when, in a landslide of about 50 photographers, almost every single one of them is focusing not on the pitch, but on the man on the bench? He […]

3 years ago

It’s all heating up now. Heating up in a big way. The 10am kick-offs are done. We miss them like crazy but, looking on the bright side, all it means is that the stakes are getting higher. The games are getting more important at this World Cup. Both group C and group D will be […]

3 years ago

Roy Keane, Graeme Souness and Joe Cole all said their piece, but Souness had more to say. The topic was Qatar, their hosting of the 2022 World Cup and, between them, the three lads agreed that this whole thing is not right. “They’ll be praying that the football will make it a great tournament,” began […]

3 years ago

*UPDATE: The tweet has since been deleted* Spanish football legend Iker Casillas has become one of the highest profile footballers ever to come out as gay. The Real Madrid legend enjoyed a 23-year professional career but retired in 2020 following a heart-attack during his time as a Porto player. On Sunday afternoon, a short tweet […]

3 years ago

Awful, awful news. The teenage son of leading jumps trainer Henry De Bromhead has passed away after a pony riding accident on Rossbeigh Beach in Kerry. The second day of the Glenbeigh Festival, due to take place on Sunday, has been cancelled as a result. The incident happened during the fifth race on the card […]

3 years ago

“You’ve just got to let the man be great. You’ve got to let the goats be the goats.” – Stormzy Jamie Carragher said it himself on Monday Night Football and if you’re a United fan or a Liverpool fan or an Arsenal fan it doesn’t matter. Because every one of us can see that the […]

3 years ago

“Steve Tandy will be having a lot of harsh words.” On Saturday, after France defeated Scotland at Murrayfield, Shane Horgan didn’t spare Finn Russell. The former Ireland winger absolutely went to town on him. Speaking on Virgin Media, in Ireland, Horgan used words like ‘pathetic’ and, in calling Russell’s work-rate into question, said you’d never […]

4 years ago

Brought to you by Betfred Rachael Blackmore has gone where no female jockey has ever gone before in winning the Champion Hurdle, after she teamed up with Honeysuckle for yet another ground-breaking victory The deadliest duo in horse-racing made it 11 wins from 11 runs but Tuesday’s scintillating triumph was their finest, most breath-taking performance […]

5 years ago

Elliot has apologised for the “moment of madness” Gordon Elliott was last night banned from racing horses in England until an investigation by Irish authorities into a photograph of Elliot confirmed to be genuine comes to a conclusion. The British Horseracing Association made the decision on Monday night on the back of a photo of […]

5 years ago

Legends of horse racing Horse racing and Ireland go hand in hand with another. Our neigh-bours (sorry, had to) across the water have produced some of the real greats of horse racing and hosted some of the finest moments in the sport’s history. Horse racing, the jockeys, the trainers, the stables, the owners, the breeders, […]

5 years ago

You can understand the frustration felt by Novak Djokovic and his fellow quarantined tennis stars…to a point The food from their Victorian base does look fairly bog standard. We’ll give them that. Having to train from a hotel room in the week leading up to a career defining grand slam is hardly ideal and without […]

5 years ago

Dimitri Van den Bergh and Jose de Sousa have made the cut for the Premier League darts line-up for the first time in their careers Dates for the 2021 competition are yet to be confirmed as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, however the show will go on, and it will once […]

5 years ago

An injury to his right wrist ended Gerwyn Price’s professional rugby career in 2014 Seven remarkable years on and that right wrist helped him become the winner of the World Darts Championship, and the number one ranked darts player in the world. Playing in his first world final, Price blazed into a 5-1 lead and […]

5 years ago

It was quite the night for Caoimhín Kelleher Starring in Liverpool’s Champions League group stage win over Ajax, goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher became the first Irish player to play in the Champions League since 2016 – when Eoghan O’Connell played for Celtic – and indeed the first Irish goalkeeper ever to keep a clean sheet in […]

5 years ago

The Champions League semi-final itself was underwhelming, with PSG streaking to a facile 3-0 win over Red Bull Leipzig. But so too was the occasion, and more so the teams involved for RTÉ pundit Richie Sadlier. Speaking prior to kick-off, the Dubliner explained the debatable morals that fund and run both clubs and left viewers […]

6 years ago

The 19-stone American-Mexican wasn’t even given a prayer Drafted in as a late replacement after Anthony Joshua’s initial opponent Jarrell Miller failed multiple drug tests, Andy Ruiz Junior was quoted as high as 25/1 by bookmakers before this heavyweight title showdown. He was widely mocked for his physique, written off in almost every corner but […]

7 years ago

It might do them no harm whatsoever It’s fair to say Chelsea’s preparations for the Europa League final have been far from ideal. From Reuben Loftus-Cheek getting injured in tiddlywinks over in America to Ngolo Kante’s ever-reducing chances of lining out. Eden Hazard is ready for the high road while Callum Hudson Odoi and Antonio […]

7 years ago

The man knows how to motivate his players Jurgen Klopp called his Liverpool players monsters of mentality after their stunning win over Barcelona. Well in that case, the pop-eyed, coat-wearing, fist-pumping, sky-jumping German is a monster of all things motivation. Georginio Wijnaldum expected to start Wednesday night’s Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. He’d played in […]

7 years ago

“They are a team of dopes” All hail the Liverpool legends. Fabinho set the tone with his snarls before the game was even two minutes old. Andy Robertson was sticking it to everybody who came near him, Sadio Mane must be one of the fittest individuals on the planet. Trent Alexander Arnold, what else is […]

7 years ago

If you went to bed early last night, you missed out on a hell of a lot

7 years ago

It’s the most iconic steeplechase in the world Featuring 40 horses, four and a quarter miles, 30 jumps, endless tips, excitement and chat, the Grand National brings out horse racing aficionados and fair weather fans alike. Whatever you do, follow your hunch, whether it’s a jockey, a trainer or a horse you like. Here’s our […]

7 years ago

This is just great to see

7 years ago

Liverpool rested a load of players on Monday night but so did Wolves Matt Doherty was given a break, so was Costa, Cavaleiro and Rui Patricio. They still had Raul Jimenez, Neves and Moutinho but this wasn’t exactly Nuno Esprito Santo’s full deck. On top of that, Liverpool are the Premier League leaders, they were […]

7 years ago

England v Ireland. A chance at the most prestigious trophy in post-retirement six-a-side international football up for grabs… It doesn’t matter what sport it is, when England go up against Ireland it’s always going to be full-blooded and have a little bit of bite about it. And while the Star Sixes going on this weekend on […]

7 years ago

Roy Keane doesn’t have much time for the modern breed of footballer

7 years ago

James Wade has apologised But the thing is, James Wade had the chance to apologise on Thursday night after he’d done what had everyone thinking he was going to apologise for then. But instead of apologising then, he doubled, trebled down on his aggressive, unsporting behaviour from moments earlier and made everybody despair again. All […]

7 years ago

Gary Neville has seen this coming since last summer Ever since Jose Mourinho came back from Manchester United’s pre-season tour and complained about the transfer money he’d been given and the players he hadn’t, Neville knew that this whole thing was only going to get worse. A couple of months later and here we are […]

7 years ago

This will you hair standing on the back of your necks Almost two years on from his last fight in the Octagon, Conor McGregor’s eagerly anticipated UFC comeback is finally upon us. It was in November of 2016 when McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez to become the UFC’s lightweight champion and during his break from the […]

8 years ago

These lads are ready After months of build-up, months of hard-training and weeks of trash-talk, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov are ready to fight. Both men made weight, the Russian tipping the scales on the button at 155 lbs while Conor McGregor was half a pound lighter. McGregor made everybody wait a while at the […]

8 years ago

Vintage Keano

8 years ago

Football is no stranger to fake news Images did the rounds on Tuesday afternoon claiming to have been the official FIFA Team of the Tournament. With no confirmation of such on FIFA’s official website or on their Twitter account, it seems to have been nothing more than a sick joke. In fairness, whoever is behind it […]

8 years ago

Dejan Lovren has had enough of standing in the shade. This man is sick and tired of being a scapegoat in England. He’s stayed silent under the tanks of abuse being unloaded over his head and he’s not physically able to hold his tongue for any longer. For God’s sake, this is a man who […]

8 years ago

The start of a new chapter for Shay Given

8 years ago

A toss of a coin would’ve decided this four years ago

8 years ago

What was he thinking?

8 years ago

Grealish could be on the move to London

8 years ago

It’s getting weird now

8 years ago

Klopp was never going to throw him under the bus

8 years ago

He’s grown frustrated at a lack of opportunities. And it’s hard to blame him for that. Republic of Ireland international Jon Walters made his move from Stoke City to Burnley last July, but fast forward nearly a year and the 34-year-old forward has only made a paltry five appearances for his new club, with only […]

8 years ago

Arsene Wenger is a born winner and when he’s not winning he’s not a happy camper

8 years ago

As if they needed it

8 years ago