Tag: North Belfast
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Stephen Baxter built a winning culture from rock bottom at Crusaders… his greatest legacy
Stephen Baxter will walk away from Seaview at the end of the 2023/24 campaign as the greatest Crusader ever. The Hatchetmen have been treated to bundles of success during the 58-year-old’s tenure in charge on the Shore Road; almost two decades of unparalleled glory in the club’s entire history. Three Premiership titles, four Irish Cups,…
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Rising star Odhran Casey’s last-gasp heroics for Cliftonville shows spirit goes a long way
It’s fair to say that Ireland’s oldest football club have taken a notion of adding a few years of aging to their supporters in recent times. The same was true on Tuesday night. For a third away game in a row, Cliftonville have made a personal gain in additional time at the expense of an…
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Ten of the brightest lights of the 2023/24 Sports Direct Premiership campaign
By Callum McFadden The Sports Direct Premiership has thrown up more twists and turns and is on the cusp of a dramatic climax, with a three-horse title race at one end, a tense fight for a European Play-Off place in the middle and a dogfight to escape the relegation battle at the bottom. Some existing…
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Big guns beware… Ballyclare and Newington showed they can cut it when chips look down
The Irish Cup last-16 proved a fruitful round for Championship clubs, with six entering the fray and four coming out the other side unscathed. Indeed, there wasn’t a single instance of a Premiership club toppling a second-tier adversary, with north Down duo Bangor and Ards eliminated by division rivals Portadown and Institute respectively. Harking back…
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Stewart Nixon’s resurgence is an inspirational feelgood tale of the 2023/24 campaign
Seeing a player who has battled hard through personal adversity to return to their peak performance will never not be a satisfying sight. That’s exactly the case with Stewart Nixon, the flying forward whose injury hell finally looks to be behind him. At the start of this season, the fleet-footed attacker made a surprise loan…
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Five 21-or-under breakout stars from the Playr-Fit Championship in 2023/24
The latest young star to swap the Irish League for the football scene in England was centre-back Craig Farquhar, who switched from Larne for Crystal Palace during the January transfer window. The defender, who had joined the Invermen only the summer before from his home town club Ballymena United, made a six-figure move into the…
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Oft-unsung Ronan Doherty is ready to rise out of Chris Gallagher’s shadow at Cliftonville
It was an eventful week that ended in a flourish for Cliftonville, who continue to put their title credentials on show despite the seemingly incessant rumours linking their stars with moves away in January and the summer. The drawn-out saga over one such, Chris Gallagher, finally met an end when the midfielder’s exit to Larne…
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Upset value in the Irish Cup on full display in the Fifth Round… with every chance of continuing
In the Irish Cup Sixth Round, there were three all-Premiership ties pulled out of the hat that all but confirms the amount of top-flight clubs will have at least been slashed in half from the last-32 by the time the quarter-finals roll around. League leaders Linfield will host relegation-battling Ballymena United, second-placed Larne entertain Glenavon…
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