It's out 😃 Mixed & mastered & laboured over by studio wizard, @paulcaseymusic, featuring sublime artwork by @rebeccafpainter, and a stunning sample from @_LondonisLonely, This is our new album, Every Architect of Ruin. weareaerials.bandcamp.com/al… #irishmusic #indie

This is the year when the game of two halves became the game of four quarters. And the greatest sport and event was damaged for fistfuls of dollars. Hydration breaks ruin the game’s flow and frustrates fans and viewers. If hydration breaks were solely about player welfare then they would be linked to the temperature in the stadia. It’s a nonsense having a three-minute break in an air-conditioned arena. Fifa should long ago have established a working party of coaches, sports scientists, national team doctors and Fifpro to agree a set temperature at kickoff, say 25C, which triggers the breaks. That would prove the breaks were for player welfare. At the moment, and to nobody’s surprise, it is widely accepted that these breaks are for US TV to accommodate commercials. Big bucks for the small screen. Fifa should have thought more about the effect on games and to fan (and viewer) experience when negotiating. Coaches’ desire for a mid-half tactical time-out masquerading as a drinks stop should be resisted anyway. Games have been played for 150 years without needing such intervention. Coaches can shout instructions. And who says that 22 mins and 67 mins is when a coach needs to intervene anyway. It’s nonsense. It’s about money. Respected and sane footballing voices from Virgil van Dijk to Mauricio Pochettino have spoken out against the breaks. Fifa should listen to them not appear only to listen to the rustle of dollar bills. It’s important that there is resistance to this from all over. Because if we tolerate this, our TV games could be next. BBC can’t do ads, ITV says it won’t follow its US counterparts. But it has been discussed by TV people. It’ll come one day. #FIFAWorldCup.

When Mo Salah gave up his Player of the Match award for James Milner 🥺

Liverpool FC is top of the table, but not of a league to be proud of. A 4-2 pasting at the hands of Aston Villa on Friday night affirmed the Reds’ mediocre season on the pitch. But, according to campaigners, Liverpool is number one in complicity in the Gaza genocide. War on Want have published a league table of Premier League clubs’ ties to Israeli actions in Palestine. Liverpool are ahead of north London rivals Arsenal and Spurs in joint second place. Man United and Man City are tied in third place while the fourth spot is shared by Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton and Fulham. The league table is part of a report entitled Red Card: English Premier League Complicity in Israel’s Atrocities Against the Palestinians. The report says at least 15 Premier League sponsors have connections to the military assault on Gaza, the construction of illegal settlements and the wider system of apartheid. Liverpool’s shirt sponsor, Standard Chartered, provided $15.4bn (£11.5bn) to 24 complicit businesses between January and August 2025. The Premier League itself is sponsored by Barclays bank, which the report says has provided billions to 49 complicit companies. Neil Sammonds, senior campaigner on Palestine at War on Want, said: “These clubs speak proudly about equality, inclusion and community. Yet behind the branding, some are using ‘sportswashing’ to sanitise corporations connected to some of the gravest crimes and humanitarian catastrophes of our time. “Palestinian footballers are being killed. Stadiums are turned into detention camps. Child players are buried beneath rubble. “The Premier League has shown before that it can act when sponsorship becomes morally toxic. The question is why Palestinian lives appear to count for less.”

“Pay our employees, because we won’t.”

There was a time when a European final belonged to the supporters who dragged their club there. Not anymore. When Aston Villa were handed roughly 11,000 tickets for a Europa League final in a 70,000-plus stadium, the number itself told the story. UEFA can package the event however it likes — “festival of football”, “European showpiece”, “global celebration” — but the modern European final is no longer built around supporters. It is built around clients. The supporters fund the journey. The corporates inherit the destination. Villa fans will have spent thousands following the club across Europe. Flights, hotels, time off work, loyalty schemes built over years. Yet when the final arrives, huge sections of the stadium are reserved for sponsors, hospitality guests, executives, delegates and “neutral” allocations that often end up on resale sites within hours. And supporters are expected to accept it. UEFA’s defence is familiar. Sponsors fund competitions. Broadcasters need space. Hospitality drives revenue. All true. But football crossed a line when the event surrounding the final became more important than the supporters inside it. The optics are awful because fans can see it themselves. A finalist gets 11,000 tickets while corporate packages costing thousands remain available. Genuine supporters scramble through ballots with lottery-like odds, while neutral areas fill with tourists taking photos during the warm-up. And UEFA wonders why resentment grows. Supporters are constantly called “the lifeblood of the game” until ticket allocations are discussed. Then they become an inconvenience to work around premium inventory. Football did not become Europe’s dominant sport because sponsors created atmosphere. The noise, colour and emotion UEFA sells globally every season is generated by match-going supporters — the same people increasingly pushed aside at the biggest games. The “neutral fan” concept is perhaps the biggest fiction of all. In theory it promotes access. In reality it fuels resale markets, inflated prices and thousands travelling ticketless out of desperation. UEFA could change it tomorrow. Finalists could receive 70 per cent of the stadium combined. Corporate sections could shrink. Hospitality would still exist. But that would mean sacrificing revenue. And modern football has shown repeatedly which side wins that argument. #AVFC #scfreiburg

No one asked for this. The players involved won’t want to do it, they’ll say absolutely nothing of interest, the fans just want to watch the game. Absolute nonsense.

Infantino is such a snake.

🇮🇪🇳🇱 - Troy Parrott WINS the Dutch Cup with AZ, getting a goal and an assist in the final The first trophy of his career Massive congratulations Troy 🦜🏆

It’s been 33 years since this sublime Seeya Later at San Siro. Roberto Baggio buries Billy Costacurta, bursts ahead of Baresi, then rounds Rossi as Juve win at Milan. The Divine Ponytail. What sight to behold.

Brave interview here from Nicky Low speaking about a suicide attempt when he was with Derry City. He is cycling 120 miles and running the Edinburgh marathon to raise money for suicide prevention charity, The Anchor. greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news…

These people are crazy.

"HERE WE GO!": the lowdown on "football journalist" Fabrizio Romano sportingintelligence832.subs…

🗣️"The FAI could show a bit of balls and refuse to play Israel' Brian Kerr explains why the FAI, for football reasons alone, should boycott the Nations League fixtures with Israel Calls the Irish government stance 'complete boloney' 🎥 @VMSportIE

🗣 "[The FAI] could show a real bit of balls and refuse to play Israel." 🗣 "I think UEFA could back the FAI if they were strong enough on it." Brian Kerr on the Republic of Ireland being drawn in the same group as Israel in the Nations League. #VMSport

In 2014, footballers were statistically more likely to be bitten by Luis Suarez than a shark.

“It’s no secret what this club means to me. It was always the plan to come home. I can’t wait to get started.” James McClean speaks for the first time after signing for Derry City. Welcome home, Jimmy Mac ❤️

HE'S BACK!!! 🔴⚪ Derry City FC are delighted to confirm the signing of local legend and Irish centurion James McClean from Wrexham on a multi-year deal. derrycityfc.net/2026/01/the-…

27 years ago in Serie A: Simeone ➡️ Ronaldo Ronaldo ➡️ Zamorano Zamorano ➡️ Baggio Baggio ⚽️ Six touches. Four legends. One glorious golazo. That forward line was ridiculous.

Johan Cruyff: “One day, Romario asked me if he could miss training to go to Brazil for carnival. I said: ‘If you score 2 goals tomorrow you can go.’ He scored twice in 20 minutes against Real Madrid and asked to be replaced. ‘Coach, my plane leaves in 1 hour.’”

Jimmy Kimmel is on a legendary run. “Donald J Trump is gonna to kill you”