Author : Matt McKay

Northern Ireland went into this game with a growing list of unavailable players but the positive news was the inclusion of fit again Gareth McAuley. Michael O’Neill made the bold decision to stick with Boyce and Magennis up top, leaving Kyle Lafferty to a place on the bench. The opening 23 minutes was a tame […]

On Friday 12th May there were two playoff games to be played in the NIFL Premiership to finish the season: the Europa League playoff final and the promotion/relegation playoff second leg. Ballymena hosted Glenavon in the Europa League final, the winner of which would earn themselves an estimated £200,000 bonus for Europa League qualification. Meanwhile, […]

If you were expecting the semi-finals of the Europa League playoff to be dull and timid displays then you would have been very wrong! The two matches offered up 15 goals in 180 minutes of football as Glenavon overcame Cliftonville and Ballymena United defeated Dungannon Swifts. Cliftonville 3-5 Glenavon Cliftonville had the home advantage in […]

It was an odd week of build-up to the showpiece of Northern Irish football as all the pre-match discussion was centred around the man in the middle. Dungannon based referee Raymond Hetherington was the original choice to officiate the match but was struck down with illness in the week prior to the final, his replacement […]

Here’s a piece of trivia for you: did you know that the same man was in charge of Northern Ireland at both their lowest (129th, September 2012) and highest (26th, April 2017) FIFA World Ranking? A certain Michael O’Neill… The news has broken that Norwich City FC have held informal with Northern Ireland boss Michael […]

This is the final matchday of the regular league season. Relegation, relegation playoff and Europa League playoff participants have all been confirmed. There still remains the matter of confirming the Europa League playoff pairings depending on final league placing and of course, the league title’s destination is yet to be decided. Portadown will be relegated […]

Bottom Half Ballinamallard United v Ards Friday 21st April 2017, 20:00 After their loss on Easter Tuesday, the Mallards have been consigned to a 10th place finish, but while the final two matchdays may be a dead rubber to them, there are still other places up for grabs in the bottom half of the league. […]

Bottom Half Ards v Portadown Ards’ disappointing collapse against Carrick on Saturday saw them lose ground on 7th place Dungannon Swifts. Guillaume Keke will be hoping to continue his goal scoring form into this fixture after his early brace on Saturday. Portadown’s victory over Ballinamallard on Friday has continued the delay in confirming their relegation. […]

The 1990s was the beginning of the end of regular big European nights for Northern Irish clubs due to reforms in European football. In light of that we’ll take a more fleeting look at the European ties from 1990 through to the present day. In 1990 Portadown entertained FC Porto but came out of the […]

Bottom Half Portadown v Ballinamallard United Friday 14th April 20:00 Portadown’s victory over Carrick Rangers prolonged the agony of confirming their automatic relegation to the Championship, anything by a win on Friday will confirm their position at the foot of the table. Ballinamallard’s victory over Glentoran brought them 3 points closer to that final Europa […]

In 1980, it was Linfield again who would represent Northern Ireland in the European Cup, the Blues were drawn against Nantes of France but, lost 3-0 over the two legs. In the Cup Winners Cup, Crusaders would take on Welsh team Newport County. A comprehensive 4-0 loss away in the first leg confirmed the outcome […]

After match day 33 the league split has been confirmed. The top six teams will play each other again once and the bottom six will play each other one more time. The team who wins the league will qualify for the Champions League and second place will qualify for the Europa League. The second Europa […]

In 1970 Glentoran were involved in a cross-border European Cup clash against Waterford United. A 3-1 home loss in the first leg meant the 1-0 loss in the 2nd leg was inconsequential. Linfield took on Manchester City in the Cup Winners Cup cruelly losing out on away goals despite recording the 2-1 victory at home. […]

Northern Irish football returns to the Irish Cup this weekend. After a keenly contested round of Quarter-Finals, it is Glenavon, Coleraine, Linfield and Dungannon Swifts who will compete for a place in the showpiece Final. The winners of the Irish Cup will qualify for next season’s Europa League. If the winners have already qualified for […]

In 1960 Glenavon once again qualified for the European Cup this time they were matched against East German club Wismut Karl Marx Stadt but due to British-East German relations at the time both clubs were denied visas to enter each other’s country. Glenavon were not in a position financially to play both legs in a […]

Irish League Preview Matchday 33 – 24th & 25th March 2017 It’s the last regular season game before the split officially takes place despite the post-split fixtures already having been drawn up. Glentoran v Carrick Rangers Friday 24th March 19:45 The Glens pulled off a shock 4-2 victory over Ballymena last weekend and will hope […]

The 1950s was a decade that would ultimately change the face of European Football. In 1955-56 UEFA hosted the inaugural European Cup consisting of sixteen teams from around Europe selected by French football magazine L’Equipe. In Northern Ireland 1951-52 was the first team the Irish Football League title went outside Belfast for the trophy was […]

The greatest show on turf returns this week. Cheltenham? No, the NIFL Danske Bank Premiership! With two games remaining until the league splits the groupings have already been confirmed and the fixtures released for the remaining five league games post-split. The league features another live Sky Sports match from Seaview on Monday. Ballymena United v […]