Tag: Jim Magilton
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It’s unfair to put blame at feet of Linfield and Cliftonville for Irish Cup Final crowd disorder
A penny for the thoughts of Linfield and Cliftonville this week. This year’s Irish Cup Final was a spectacular in every sense. Nearly 15,000 packed inside Windsor Park for the biggest-attended domestic fixture in Northern Ireland this century and an occasion to savour that, for the most part, featured backing from both sides that supported…
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Ending Cliftonville’s Irish Cup drought proves Jim can fix it… now he must target league glory
Finally, it’s Cliftonville’s year in the Irish Cup. An agonising waiting game ends at last and a drought that lasted 45 painful years is over in one burst of champagne rain. Since 1979, the Reds have contrived to fail in various ways in their pursuit of that elusive ninth Irish Cup – until a man…
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Cliftonville’s Irish Cup Final a red letter day, but victory over Larne a key confidence boost
As regurgitated as it is, Cliftonville’s Irish Cup record makes for one of the most perplexing statlines in any Irish League archive. Ireland’s oldest football club’s tale in Ireland’s oldest footballing cup competition is not really a joyous one; they’ve won it eight times, yet boast just a single honour since 1909. That’s one Irish…
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Tying down revelatory Shea Kearney to 2027 may already be Cliftonville’s signing of the summer
If you’re picking out a breakthrough star from the Sports Direct Premiership this season, the meteoric rise of Cliftonville’s Shea Kearney can hardly be overlooked. The Lurgan lad has been in spectacular form for the Reds – and it was music to the ears of the supporters when news of his two-year contract extension at…
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Why Cliftonville’s latest quest for Irish Cup glory draws so much from success of 1979
Cliftonville are within touching distance of the Irish Cup Final – a sound that sets alarm bells ringing more than anything these days. The Reds’ progression in Ireland’s oldest footballing cup competition, of which they are a founder member and have won eight times but only once since 1909, is akin to an ambitious mountain…
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Larne have played January market to a tee and will keep competitive edge because of it
At the start of the winter window of 2024, I wrote on this site that January would play a key role in deciding who would emerge as Sports Direct Premiership champions come the close of the season. Larne took that notion to heart on Friday night, and it is no surprise that they are in…
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Mentality monsters Larne will be wary that outsiders Glentoran can still dent title race
The race for Gibson Cup glory took one fresh turn in the path in midweek and will wind down another on Friday night. Question marks hanging over Linfield are now Cliftonville’s to bear the brunt of following the visitors’ 3-0 success at Solitude in midweek, as a trio of second-half strikes put the Blues back…
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Crunch clash of wounded Linfield and red-hot Cliftonville is ultimate mentality battle
The split is within touching distance, the pressure is mounting and a three-way title race is still a three-way title race. That said, an alarming dip in form for Linfield at precisely the wrong moment has thrown a fresh spanner in the works. Larne and Cliftonville continue to motor on having gone 36 games unbeaten…
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