Search Results for 'the Champions League'

A lucky Galway punter has scooped a whopping €206,000 for a measly €1 bet.

League and cup champions Raheny United are the visitors to Eamonn Deacy Park on Sunday to do battle with Galway WFC in the FAI Cup quarter-final.

Mayo will be represented in the first round of the Champions League next week when Damien McGrath steps out on to the field in the biggest club competition in the world. McGrath’s stock has risen highly in Mayo and nationally over the past number of years and this is just the latest high level promotion for him. McGrath will be first assistant referee, alongside the all Irish team of Alan Kelly who will be the referee, Ken Hennessey, and Paraic Sutton, who will act as fourth official. The two additional assistants are Anthony Buttimer and Neil Doyle. “It’s a great honour for me and also for the Mayo referees branch,” McGrath said.

Castlebar Celtic currently sit in fourth place in the Newstalk A Championship table on seven points from their six games. This weekend they are looking to push their points total on to 10 when Dundalk come to Celtic Park on Sunday evening.

Castlebar Celtic will welcome Bohemians to the Celtic Park on Sunday for their second game in the Newstalk A league on Sunday afternoon. Celtic opened up the their league campaign last Sunday with a 1-1 draw away to Sporting Fingal in Dublin. An under strength Celtic side saw manager Declan Kilkelly have to go between the sticks due to an injury crisis. Chris Rowland opened the scoring for Celtic after 20 minutes and went in at the break leading. Sporting Fingal had former Irish international Glenn Crowe in their ranks, and Kilkelly was very happy with the performance of his centre half, pairing against such an established League of Ireland performer. “Declan Flynn and Shane Moran, who it has to be remembered is only 18, did really well for us against Sporting Fingal,” he said. “They are a top side who have come on a lot since they came into the league a number of years ago.” Having to go into goal wasn’t something that Kilkelly wanted to do, and he hopes he doesn’t have to again. “It wasn’t something I really wanted to do, but you have to do these things and I did my best for the lads. I’m still a bit sore after it. I took a bang in the ribs near the end which is still a bit sore at the minute.”

Delegates at special congress last Saturday gave Galway and Antrim the green light to compete in Leinster for the next three years. There were a number of proposals down for decision but without a doubt this motion was top of the priority list. There has been a lot of changes in the association over the years with this being the most radical on-field change since the backdoor system was introduced in '97. Both Galway and Antrim have now been given the chance to bring the famous Bob O'Keeffe Cup to foreign lands, oh, how times have changed. It may only be for a three-year trial period but I for one feel it's a stepping stone to an open draw or a champions league style championship. Sure Kilkenny are dominant in Leinster at present, but I think this move undermines the great effort that Dublin, Wexford and Offaly are doing to catch up on possibly the greatest Kilkenny team of all times. This move will certainly make it harder for the aforementioned sides to reach the Leinster final- so how this is going to improve hurling in this province is beyond me. Take Dublin for instance, a county that is genuinely trying its best to promote hurling. Their players would look upon it as a huge honour to play in a Leinster decider, the new system could now rob them of that chance. Any player who has won a Leinster senior medal over the years should cherish it. The new championship should in fact be called the 'rest of Ireland championship' during this three-year trial. Everyone will have their own opinion and are well entitled to have it, but the sight of Galway running out on Croke Park for final day doesn't exactly excite me. Call me old-fashioned or set in my ways, but that's the way I feel at present. Maybe I'll feel differently about it after the three-year trial; I wonder what way will the Kilkenny County Board look upon it in three-year’s time if Galway take all three titles during that period? Once again we are victims of our own success! It’s ok for people to mess around with this province, if change was needed, and I'm not so sure it was, but they should have bitten the bullet and brought Munster on board for the champions league style championship.

The Champions League and Premiership trophies, both currently held by Manchester United will be coming to Fagan’s on Friday November 21 as part of their ongoing tour.

The Champions League and Premiership trophies, both currently held by Manchester United, will be coming to Fagan’s on Friday November 21 as part of their ongoing tour.

It has been the year of Padraig Harrington, Munster triumphant, three Irish boxing medals in Beijing and Kilkenny and Kerry keeping the Liam McCarthy and Sam Maguire Cups firmly in their grip. It’s also the year when Man United reclaimed the Champions League; Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps created an Olympics to remember; and Tiger Woods broke through the pain barrier to win the US Open. All of this and so much more are recalled in The Setanta Sports Yearbook 2008–2009.

The group stages of the Champions League come to a conclusion this week with only two of the eight groups’ qualifiers not yet known.  Groups A and B will draw to a tense conclusion on Tuesday night as Chelsea, second favourites to win the trophy outright, need a result to progress to the knockout stages in late February, when the competition begins in earnest.