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World Cup 2018 – peace at last

Amid the dying embers of 2015 there was a spark which spoke volumes about the nature of football and politics, which are always one and the same. And it all revolved around the fallout from the bids...

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Galatasaray ban proves there’s nothing fair about Financial Fair Play

As Mustafa Denizli boarded the plane back to Istanbul from Gaziantep, he must have wondered where it all went wrong. Denizli would not see the Türk Telekom Arena in its match day glory again prior to...

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Russian Premier League – Last day drama

If we’d been given the permutation that would leave two clubs fighting for the title on the last day and five clubs in danger of relegation, you’d have gotten the same odds as Leicester City winning in...

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Mission of Care – Russian footballers unite

Back in September last year I wrote about the plight of footballers in Russia and in particular one young man, Viktor Ivlev, who was subjected to bullying and violence at a Second Division club. I’ve...

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Dynamo Moscow – An historic failure, a long time coming

A 3-1 defeat in Naples meant that Dynamo Moscow’s chances of making it to the quarter finals of the 2015 Europa League looked slim; but after some solid performances in the competition already, turning...

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Money matters – fair pay for play in Russia

“The salary a player gets should be entirely dependent on the quality of his game,” he said, and the world shook. When a lickspittle beneficiary of gross nepotism makes, usually the nation reverberates...

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FAI’s new ‘C’ licence labelled a “money racket” by angry coaches

Earlier this week it was announced by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) that a new tier was to be added to the governing bodies coaching ladder. This new tier, entitled the ‘National ‘C’...

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From 2018 UEFA’s Group Stages will be a bridge too far for Europe’s minnows

Dundalk’s European exploits were a boost for not just the SSE Airtricity League, but also for all the smaller leagues around Europe. An Irish club playing and competing at the group stages is a unique...

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Celtic’s need for continental success in the name of progress

Six league titles in as many seasons, the first domestic treble in fourteen years on the horizon and an alluring invincible season looming. It seems at present that things couldn’t get much better for...

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Bridging the gap – UEFA president suggests salary caps for Europe’s biggest...

Under the relentless sunshine alighting the sky’s vivid blues and whites, stands one of Los Angeles’ finest holiday homes. The exterior is a smart blend of bleached white stone and tinted blue panes,...

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Food for inspiration – unseeded sides in UEFA qualifying for the World Cup

If you ever find yourself playing for your national team in a World Cup qualifier, but end up in pot 2 of the qualification playoffs, the odds are already against you – or are they? Even if you are...

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The Manchester United and Sevilla ticket debacle sets an unhealthy precedent

Maybe there will come a time in a post-Mourinho and Conte world where we no longer rely on managers for our fix of box office vilification. Maybe these disputes will reach boardroom level, and in our...

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UEFA Euro 2020 draw and the Irish problem

One word is enough to make any Irish rugby fan over 30 shudder – Lens. A defeat by Argentina in the northern French city knocked Ireland out of the 1999 Rugby World Cup and Irish rugby reached its...

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Assessing the FIFA World Cup legacy in Russia

My own abiding memory of the 2018 World Cup Final was not the atmosphere before, during or after the game; nor was it was not the array of talents and goals, or the extremely large number of Chinese...

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Play-offs hold the Euro 2020 qualification key for both the Republic of...

While English eyes are focussed on Nations League glory, their neighbours have crucial games in the attempt to qualify for Euro2020. Fans may not be aware that upcoming matches in other groups may have...

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Journey to the Centre of the Europa League: Playoffs, first legs

The 2019/20 UEFA Europa League represents the 49th season of Europe’s secondary club football tournament and the 11th season since it was re-christened and reconfigured by now-fallen President Platini....

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Journey to the centre of the Europa League – Matchday 3

‘O Jogo Bonito’, as the besotted Brazilians would have it. To us: ‘The Beautiful Game’. We know, however, that football has a hideously ugly side too. No, this not another diatribe about VAR’s...

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Journey to the centre of the Europa League – Back on the road

“After the final whistle blew across Europe, everything changed. With the future of football now shrouded in doubt, these ties were the last Europa League games to take place until the coronavirus...

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Journey to the Centre of the Europa League: Last 16

With hyper-extended league campaigns now completed – and the SPL just beginning – football’s curious calendar continues inexorably into a fourteenth and final month. Completing this unique cycle will...

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There and back again – Ten years following Rangers

It was a Sunday morning, 29th July 2012 to be exact. Me, my wife Sarah and four month old son Mason had went over to my wife’s friends house for a play date for the kids but my mind was elsewhere....

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