It’s Official! Youghal United are Guinness World Record Holders – Guinness recognises club’s new world record for “longest five-a-side soccer marathon” Photo: www.youghalonline.com Record breakers Youghal United - Pic: www.youghalonline.com After thirty-three and a half hours of non-stop, five-a-side soccer, the hardest part of Youghal United’s quest to break the world record for the longest five-a-side soccer match may have been the eleven weeks they’ve had to wait to find out if their record-breaking attempt would be officially recognized by Guinness World Records. Last week event organizer Jock Gallogley got the following good word from Guinness:  “The longest five-a-side football marathon is 33 hr 30 min by members of Youghal United AFC (Ireland) at Ardrath... Similar posts

OK, I haven’t written about Newcastle United FC for a while, and you won’t expect me to be completely silent on events… For those who don’t know what this is about, a little bit of background on the life and times of this football (soccer) club. Two years ago the sky fell on Newcastle, as the owner fell out with the much loved manager, Kevin Keegan. Keegan left, and a completely chaotic season followed, at the end of which the club was relegated from the Premier League to the (then) Coca Cola Championship. In the meantime the owner, Mike Ashley, was trying to offload the club but couldn’t find a buyer, the fans hated him, the biggest players left. Fatalistic fans were already talking about further relegation to League One. And then it all changed.... Similar posts

Here’s an unfortunate correlation: Fuller days. Hungrier blogaruu. Tut tut. Catch up on. Few nuts to shell out. Apparently. Graced the sheets of a big magazine this week. Howdy! Or something like that. Looking well I’ve been told. Headless. Body … Continue reading... Similar posts

It’s been a while since I visited the subject of Waterford United. Work commitments, holidays and visits from people who really wouldn’t appreciate the value of a trip to the RSC have meant that I haven’t been to see the Blues in months, and tonight against Wexford Youths will maintain that pattern. The next likely... Similar posts

Today sees the closing ceremony of the 8th Gay Games in Cologne, which kicked off on 31st July – and a well-deserved rest for the 100-odd members of Team Ireland. (You may remember the Gay Games from such articles as here and here.) And bloody hell, didn’t Team Ireland do well? The unofficial roving reporter for the Cork contingent tells us that their medal haul alone was 27. Twenty-seven!! Some Team Ireland highlights Team Ireland’s first medal of the tournament was won by Nick Flanagan, who picked up silver in the 50m backstroke and who set a new personal best.  In the Triathlon event on the same day, competitors Eithne Ni Longphuirt and Yvonne Delaney picked up medals of gold and silver, respectively, in their classes. Poolside, Ireland’s Vivenne picked up a... Similar posts

It seems that the French authorities are going to prosecute the members of their national soccer team who were shagging underage prostitutes after all.Three of their top players admitted to paying tens of thousands of euro to bang teen hookers, which is a child abuse offence in France.Yet somehow, they were not only not prosecuted on the spot, but two of them even made it onto the plane to South Africa and ended up shaming their nation all over again with dismal performances and that hilarious Gallic strop where they refused to train.We're well used, via exposure to the England wags, to the ignominious sight of an overly made-up professional shopper standing by her man after he's been caught knocking off pay-to-play pussy.But it's a bit of a new experience for the French. I wonder whether... Similar posts

New fussball team. Gypsy F.C. Giddy up. Quality team. Currently vying for a spot with a man who has captained the English fussball team. And another chap who has won the World Cup. Seriously. Obviously they too were impressed with my Collingwood and Crowley winning days. Hoviously. Anyways. Fun team to play on. First game... Similar posts

The Wall Street Journal editorial page uses forecasts of a modest positive impact of Spain's World Cup win on its economy to prove, to its own satisfaction, that it doesn't matter how much money is spent in any economy --But there's no such thing as a free celebration, and the money spent celebrating Sunday's 1-0 victory over Holland is, by definition, not available for spending on other things. A household that buys a crate of bubbly to toast Andres Iniesta will certainly improve the wine merchant's fortunes, but probably at the expense of someone else—perhaps a carpenter who had been booked to perform repairs, or wages for a cleaning lady.To put it another way, winning the World Cup does not expand the Spanish economy's productive capacity, and so the euros spent celebrating have to... Similar posts

A goal of Iniesta-mable value Not the greatest ever World Cup, but at least there’s a new name on the trophy.   The irony is that the only team who remained unbeaten throughout the tournament were New Zealand. Those who thought the quality of the games played was well below the expected standards may well think FIFA stands for “Football Is Fucking Awful”. Any regular readers who have been bored by the amount of World Cup stories in this blog of late can now take consolation from the fact there probably won’t be any more for another 4 years.  Now it’s time to concentrate on something else.  Apparently there’s some kind of bike race on in France at the moment… One things for sure is that one group of Orangemen won’t be celebrating on the... Similar posts

Boring final rounds off boring World Cup... Similar posts

I’m not even the smallest bit of a football fan, but given that it’s World Cup final weekend, I figured this would be a good time to share one of my few football photos. As well as being beautiful, the grounds of St. Patrick’s College provide a great amenity for the people of Maynooth. Here we see some local lads enjoying a kick-around on one of the pitches on the so-called Playing Fields a fantastic summer afternoon. In the background you can see the spire of the Gunne Chapel (the college chapel). on Flickr – Full-Size Camera: Nikon D40 Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens) Exposure: 1/1000 sec Focal Length: 18mm Focal Ratio: f/8 ISO: 400 Camera Mode: Aperture Priority Exposure Bias: -0.7ev Processing: This shot was edit using both the Topaz Adjust and Topaz... Similar posts

There’s an aul saying that football isn’t life and death – it’s much more important than that. It’s a lazy cliché, but with the post-mortem of Africa’s first world cup, many will toot their horn, saying that football could be responsible for breathing new life into the continent. In a bar on Friday night, a friend told me how he was amazed at the ubiquity of football when he was working in Ghana, where every flat patch of dust became a soccer pitch, and anything solid and spherical was used as a ball. Football was everywhere, a complete leveller. The picture above is a genuine African life-and-death soccer situation. The flat patch was, at one stage, the bottom of a dam near the village of Kilema, a coffee & banana plantation area on the lower... Similar posts

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Staying with the psychic octopus... Similar posts

At the back end of 2008, this writer was in Australia for the Compromise Rules. There was a series of cafes in Perth, along a street, and the smell of cooking made the body desire some food. The ‘Sporting Limerick’ jersey was on me upon walking in, and the Asian counterman said to me in... Similar posts

With the final game of the World Cup taking place tomorrow, trying to predict who will win is a lot easier thanks to the psychic octopus, Paul the Octopus who has said that Spain will win tomorrow in the World Cup Final. I think the game will be a very tight affair but unless Holland can strike early, Spain should come out as winners. So I think there will be 2 scenarios, Holland score in the first 20 minutes, then put 11 men behind the ball for 70 minutes (unlikely since Holland like to play total football) …. Spain could draw the match and it would go to extra time. or It remains 0-0 until about 65 minutes, Spain score, Holland then have to attack and leave themselves  open and Spain score again … so either 1-1 after 90 mins or 2-0 to Spain. Blog... Similar posts

Just before the World Cup tournament started The Elders spoke to the BBC about the challenges Africa faces, and how they can also use their potential to overcome them. Watch the interview here. (Look out for Kofi Annan’s rather impressive soccer skills and Desmond Tutu’s snazzy purple boots!) If you watch the video the reporter is speaking from a township. I have to say about the townships, when I was there a few years ago, with the boyfriend from the Cape it was a no no to go into the townships. It’s a cliche but unfortunately true. A pretty amazing place all the same.... Similar posts

World Cup Quote of the day = If Germany wins the WC – it’s a double dip for Europe. If Spain does – it’s a structural depression for Spain GTCost Spain won… 2nd quote of the day = I can’t tell who’s on top. Probably Piqué as usual? A pal would love the innuendo in that sentence, which I read on the offical Spanish soccer website. It has since been removed. lol. blog) So Netherlands v Spain on Saturday. Come on Netherlands! Disculpas a todos mis amigos latinos, pero tengo familia en los Países Bajos!... Similar posts

Table Top Quiz fundraiser at Farrell’s Summerfield Bar, Youghal, this Thursday – July 8th at 8pm. One of Youghal Utd’s most promising schoolgirls is hoping to take the first step in what she hopes will be a continuing career wearing the shirt of Ireland. Report: Michael Twomey | Pic: www.youghalonline.com| Email: news@youghalonline.com Jessica Lawton from Youghal will represent Ireland at U-15 level this August when a national selection travel to Scotland Jess Lawton will travel to Scotland this August to represent her country in an U-15s international tournament. A Table Top Quiz has been organised to help raise funds so that Jess can realise her dream and also bring pride to her home town. The fundraiser will  take place at Farrell’s Summerfield Bar on Thursday July 8th... Similar posts