Category: International Football
-
Rediscovering home comforts will inspire quality Northern Ireland squad to Euros return
It wasn’t perfect, but Northern Ireland Women importantly kickstarted their quest to return to the European Championships Finals on the front foot. Despite a disappointing goalless draw with Malta on Friday night at Windsor Park when Simone Magill’s hotly disputed disallowed finish was a major talking point, the subsequent 3-1 victory in Bosnia and Herzegovina…
-
Why flying Altrincham ace Chris Conn-Clarke could be Northern Ireland’s next breakout star
The Northern Ireland senior men’s first international break of 2024 is a somewhat low-key double-header, with a couple of away friendlies firstly in Romania and then Scotland ahead of the start of the Nations League in September. They tackle the Romanians at the Arena Nationala in Bucharest on Friday, March 22 before heading to Hampden…
-
Play-Off success inspires belief that calm and collected Tanya Oxtoby can take NI forward
Although it wasn’t a display that always ebbed and flowed, Northern Ireland’s place in League B of the Women’s Nations League is secure following Tuesday night’s play-off second leg. Entering the two-legged series against Montenegro knowing that victory was essential to avoid the drop into League C of the competition, most of the groundwork, as…
-
Steven Davis always stood tall through the good and bad… that’s why he’s a Northern Ireland titan
One of Northern Ireland’s greatest-ever servants has called time on his career and leaves a void that will take a long, long time to fill. At the age of 39 and after a glittering career both at club and international level, midfielder Steven Davis has called time on his playing career. The Cullybackey icon’s 140…
-
Callum Marshall’s senior West Ham debut cherry on top of a week of dreams for club’s NI cohort
It’s been a tremendous couple of weeks for the Irish League-bred cohort of youngsters at West Ham United, with a cherry on top arriving in midweek. On Tuesday night, there was a long-awaited first-team debut for striker Callum Marshall in the Hammers’ 1-0 FA Cup Third Round defeat at Bristol City. Despite being unable to…
-
Euro 2024 may have been a step too far for this NI group, but it might not be next time around
That taste of ‘Sweet Norn Iron’ has felt so bitter for so long. Entering the clash with Denmark with qualification hopes all but a figment of the past, it was perhaps a tad rueful that it took until the final match of Euro 2024 qualifying to finally beat a team not named San Marino. But…
-
Northern Ireland’s four injury-enforced call-ups deserve a chance to shine with the pressure off
It’s come at short notice and, ostensibly, knowing a spanner was thrown into his works, but Michael O’Neill has thrown a few more young guns into the Northern Ireland fold. Injury has hit his existing panel before the clashes with Finland and Denmark – the respective penultimate and final rounds of Euro 2024 qualifying –…
-
NI’s German dream is over… so give the players freedom of expression in curtain-calling Finland and Denmark clashes
The final double-header of Euro 2024 qualifying is upon us and the Northern Ireland squad has been unveiled to tackle those final two encounters. To say it has not been a campaign to write home about would be an understatement. Where there was hope when the Group H pool was first revealed, the initial excitement…
Football Chatters 