Tag: Sports Direct Premiership
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Warren Feeney enjoyed a week of dreams… but Glentoran still have so much untapped potential
Football’s tendency for turning the unfathomable into reality will always be one of its most endearing traits. At that, though, if you were predicting Glentoran to hit Linfield with hurricane-force winds and pound on their door to the point where four goals felt flattering for the Blues to ship, you’d be looked at now as…
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2pm kick-off times in top two tiers during winter would have more benefits than drawbacks
Winter is a time of year that brings new challenges – ones that stretch beyond the footballing sphere but, equally, can leave their imprint on it. The most obvious of these fresh trials is the climate. Earlier sunsets, cold chills, snow and ice paint a different picture at the season’s mid-point compared to the warm-weather…
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Football chiefs should look into how to boost medical provisions across NI football in 2024
Over the course of an enthralling 2023 in the Irish League, one of the more sombre notes has been the sight of some serious injuries. Be it Linfield shot-stopper David Walsh sustaining a severe blow to the head in an accidental coming-together with Larne counterpart Thomas Maguire in the County Antrim Shield decider in January,…
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Ballymena United and Newry City would be wise to trust their first-time bosses through the hard times and good
2023 is coming to a close and, among other things, it will be remembered as a year when some Irish League managerial dynasties met their ends. Six or seven months ago, these long-serving tenures were still in place at clubs like Ballymena United, Newry City and Glenavon – but the picture has changed since. Most…
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Ambition on and off the pitch is fuelling a bright future for flying Dundela
At the start of the 2023/24 Playr-Fit Championship season, there was both an air of anticipation and a whiff of enigma about Dundela. The previous campaign proved a commendable one. Despite a massive mid-season turnover of players and a managerial switch, the east Belfast club mustered a fourth-placed finish having also reached the County Antrim…
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NIFL’s bold plan to change the season structure could prove genius… but they must make sure all bases are covered
Summer football is a hot topic in the Irish League. Some agree with the idea, others disagree and, invariably, those in each camp have their reasons for whether they would retain or alter the structure of the season. For many traditionalists, festive occasions like the regional cup Finals and the slate of Boxing Day derbies…
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Both Coleraine and Sky Sports missed out on Conor McKendry’s wing wizardry in dour draw
‘A great advert for the Irish League’ is a cliché that is repeated so much that you may as well have it as your phrase of choice when teaching your pet parrot how to speak. Fear not, though; you wouldn’t have heard a peep of that following Monday night’s Sports Direct Premiership clash between Coleraine…
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Joe Thomson has the Midas touch as Larne show why midfield goalscorers are so sought-after
Saturday evening’s top two tussle at Windsor Park was always going to carry a huge significance – one way or another. Had Linfield won, the engravers would likely have been readying themselves to etch their name on the Gibson Cup even at this early stage. 11 points, though by no means unassailable in November, surely…
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