Yes, that really is a man in South Ossetia riding a tricycle through a war zone wearing a Tyrone GAA jersey.No, the picture is not photoshopped. It was taken by an Associated Press photographer and was published on the Guardian website last Wednesday.I can only assume that while the lad is somewhat unhappy about Russia invading his country and looting and destroying it, he might be just a little pleased to hear that his adopted Gaelic football county slaughtered the Dubs at Croker today.Okay, maybe 'slaughtered' isn't quite the most appropriate word.Sorry!...
Apologies to genuine fans, but seriously, if you can't beat Lithuanians, you shouldn't be in the tournament.Some people aren't taking the news too well, apparently:...
Following on from the evilly funny viral hit 'Cowen's Downfall' on Youtube (hat-tip to Richard), here comes the inevitable Cristiano Ronaldo version.Enjoy:...
President of the Irish Football Association Raymond Kennedy has indicated his preference for a new build stadium to be built as part of Ormeau Park.
With question marks over both the Maze plans and the future use of Windsor Park for international football, Kennedy said that the Irish FA would go along with any of the Belfast plans. His comments have been seen by some as a rebuke to the IFA’s Cheif Executive, Howard Wells, who has consistently backed the Maze plans and is rumoured to be seeking employment elsewhere.
“Beggars can’t be choosers. I want a stadium to play football matches and I want them in Northern Ireland, not anywhere else.
Belfast City Council have come up with five sites and I would take any one of them.”
Raymond Kennedy, Irish FA President
He also...
No, not the egg-chasers World Cup.Not the Women's World Cup.Not the 'homeless' World Cup either.(Which is a total swizz, because of course all the people playing in it have a roof over their heads. It should be called the 'Formerly Homeless' World Cup. But if they called it that, then I could enter. After all, I spent a night in a skip once. But that's another story.)This is the World Cup for countries that FIFA refuse to recognise.Now, let's be honest here. FIFA's concept of what constitutes a sovereign nation is odd enough to begin with. According to FIFA, Northern Ireland is a nation. According to FIFA, Kazakhstan is a European country. According to FIFA, so is Israel, although they used to be an Australasian country.The 22 nations that take part in the Non-Fifa World Cup include...
As a prelude to sitting down and properly looking over the many excellent Irish blogs to be found on the long lists for the Irish Blog Awards, I thought I'd share with you some of the more unusual, but interesting non-Irish blogs I've come across recently.For Girls Who Can't Do Football - A bit of untruth in advertising here. The splendidly monikered Georgina Best strides that fine, previously unknown, line between gurly life rambling blog (second biggest blog category in the whole 'sphere apart from cat blogs) and footie fanatic blog. Quality result! The girl done well.Chatsoccer - Not strictly a blog, though it has group blog-like qualities. I mentioned them a little while ago, when they were still all new and pink with that lovely baby smell. Now they're already toasting the mainstream...
A big shout out to the lads behind www.chatsoccer.eu, a new online news service and chat forum for everyone with an interest in Irish soccer, from the Eircom league to Keano's Sund-Ireland, from the FAI's shenanigans to the grass roots junior game.If footie's your thing, then this site is going to be of interest, I reckon.Already chatsoccer has shown its credentials by beating the mainstream media pack to the developments on the international manager story, so clearly 'going forward' (as some might say!) it's the site to check out for the insider knowledge on all things Irish football related.Now, if only they can organise a sub-section on the Irish League, my life will be complete!...
Steven Staunton (pictured right in his Aston Villa pomp) is going to be sacked as Ireland manager today for being rubbish! Hurrah!However, apparently the FAI are skint and can't afford a decent manager, so they're going to give the job to David O'Leary instead. Boo!Can't we just give Irish football to someone who could manage it properly, like the GAA or the nuns?These bollixes just keep breaking my heart.On a more positive note, if you google 'Steve Staunton', my now legendary post 'What is Steve Staunton?' is the second from top result after Stan's wiki page.Please link now to 'What is Steve Staunton?' and let's make it number one!...
Looks like there might be a return of the late, lamented Home Nations Championship.The football competition, which was suspended in the early Eighties because England got fed up being beaten by Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, is set for a much welcome return on a biennial knock-out competition basis, rather than the previous league format.And like the cherry on top of the cake, since England don't want to take part and no one else wants England to take part, the Republic of Ireland have been invited to join discussions.The result: hopefully a vibrant Celtic Cup international tournament beginning in two years time.I can't wait. If only Lawrie could have stayed on......
The DUP’s appointment of Edwin Poots as the minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure from next month has raised some eyebrows. The biggest issue facing the culture Department is the location of the new national stadium for Northern Ireland.
Mr Poots’ position on this is quite clear. Like virtually every other big capital investment that has been proposed, Poots wants the stadium to be located in the Maze, in his constituency. He was even Chair of a development group tasked with making this happen. There have been rumours of a dirty deal between Sinn Fein and the DUP to ensure this happens, as the Shinners want a memorial to the hunger strikers to also be a part of the Maze development.
Where all this is leading has the potential to be quite worrying, not least for Sinn...
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Anyone who can work out what I might have been doing in Istanbul in May 2005 will quickly realise that I'm no fan of Manchester United.The team that Fergie built always annoyed me. Not their successes. Every trophy gets won by someone each season. But the fact that the authorities always seemed to side with them. Jammy decisions, long minutes of extra time when they are losing, no away penalties at Old Trafford...It all added up to a genuine annoyance factor.But now there's a new reason to be concerned about Manchester United. Let's rewind briefly to the Eighties to explain this fully.In the late Seventies and early Eighties, English teams dominated European football. In only a few seasons, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa all claimed the European Cup. Other teams like Ipswich...
In these days of erratic international football results either side of the border, who is a good Northern Nationalist to support?On the one hand, we have Stan the Man's merry brigade of wasters, scraping past the mighty Wales and San Marino with all the aplomb and grace of a hippo on ice.Nary a Northerner among them of course. Which might indeed be the problem.On the other, there's always Lawrie Sanchez's green and white army, casually wallopping four past the oppo, stuffing teams like England and Spain for fun.But could a good Nationalist truly consider supporting a partitionist team, even if their football association is the original one on the island, given the crazed Loyalist backing the team gets at that bastion of mutual understanding, Windsor Park?The answer to this question is, as...
The British Government continued its new development policy towards Northern Ireland - subtitled “we don’t give a f*ck what you think, we’ll do what we like”- by releasing plans for the national stadium at the Maze.
“There is no Plan B, its this or nothing,” droned a faceless New Labour minister, eyeing a helicopter back to civilisation. As the NIO clearly couldn’t be bothered to write a speech different from the one his colleagues have been delivering about the political situation and the Assembly, hacks at the unveiling had to listen to the same old rhetoric about there being no other way and nonsense about renewal and regeneration and conflict resolution.
Officials at the Northern Ireland Office confirmed that no one had warned the...
No matter who or where you are, over the next 6 weeks it’ll be difficult to avoid the “greatest show on earth”, the World Cup.
World Cups have always presented a problem to people in our country, irrespective of whether they think that country consists of 6 or 32 counties. There’s the problem of watching an event which is overwhelmingly watched and contested by Roman Catholics, never mind the tricky moral dilemma of watching a British sport which has always allowed members of the security forces to take part.
Yet with all the hype and media interest its hard not to get involved. So how can you stay true to your narrow-minded hate-filled philosophy, yet still enjoy the football? Never fear, for the BelfastBlogger.com Sectarian Guide to the World Cup is...
Linfield FC have decided to transfer list ageing international star Park Windsor.
Windsor has been terminal decline recently. Age and rule changes, prohibiting many of his renowned skills, has made it impossible to live up to previous past performances. This was highlighted graphically in yesterdays Irish Cup final when, despite live TV coverage, the aging ground was unable to produce a decent riot between fans of Linfield and Glentoran.
Windsor has also disappointed recently in international football. Although there has been occasional flashes of the old Windsor atmosphere, particularly when Neil Lennon has played, it is commonly held that sectarian chanting has gone downhill during Northern Ireland matches. Edicts from football busybodies like FIFA means that this...