‘‘Who doesn’t want to play against the world champions?’ That was the reaction of Irish women’s manager Carla Ward to the news as the Girls in Green have been grouped with World’s No. 1 Spain, Norway and Switzerland in Group|A1 for next year’s Nations League campaign. The four Group A winners will advance to the Nations League Finals in October and they will also automatically secure a place at the expanded Olympic Games in LA in 2028. Northern Ireland’s women, who have never been promoted or relegated from Group B, will play with Poland, Finland and Belarus in Group B3, Meanwhile if The Republic’s women beat Poland in a two-leg play-off next month to qualify for our second World Cup tournament, the finals will kick-off in Brazil on June 23.
Dates for the Women’s Nations League have been confirmed. Ward’s team will kick off their campaign with a home double-header in March, welcoming Switzerland on March 2 before hosting Norway on March 6. Match venues and kick-off times for all six fixtures will be announced in due course.
UEFA Women's Nations League Fixtures: March 2 Republic of Ireland v Switzerland; March 6 Republic of Ireland v Norway; April 20 Spain v Republic of Ireland; April 24 Switzerland v Republic of Ireland; June 11 Republic of Ireland v Spain and June 15 Norway v Republic of Ireland
STUDENTS PROMOTED
University College Dublin will play in the League of Ireland Premier Division next year. Goals from Ciarán Behan and Louis Dignam saw the Belfield students beat Drogheda United 2-1 in Tallaght Stadium on Saturday night and regain their place in the top flight for next year. Going into Saturday’s promotion/relegation play-off very few neutrals gave the Students much hope of causing an upset, but they were deserving winners on the night. UCD did it the hard way. They finished 19 points behind Cork City in the first division final table, then beat 5th placed Longford Town in the play-off semi-final and Bray Wanderers in the First Division play-off final. The Students will now return to the top tier following a three-year absence.
UAFA FINES FAI
The FAI has been hit with three separate fines totalling €35,500 by UEFA following the recent men’s Nations Cup game against Austria at the Aviva on Oct. 1.The largest UEFA fine issued to the FAI is for €20,000 in relation to objects being thrown onto the pitch. The game was stopped by Dutch referee Allard Lindhout in the 20th minute when tennis balls with a “stop the game” message were thrown onto the pitch by those protesting against the Irish team fulfilling their fixtures against Israel. The two other fines relate to an invasion of the pitch, €7,500, and €8,000 for the use of a laser pointer in the Austrian game.
HARPS BOUGHT
BY FORMER PRO
The take-over of Donegal club Finn Harps by Fiipino entrepreneur Freddy Gonzalez got the go ahead last week. At a special general meeting Jackson’s Hotel, Ballybofey there were 322 votes for the take-over, two against and one abstention. Two weeks earlier at an initial meeting almost 400 members gave overwhelming backing to the deal. Gonzalez, a wealthy businessman who is a former Philippines international and pro footballer himself, will now take on the ambitious League of Ireland First Division club. With Sligo Rovers members recently voting to re-structure their club, this means that Bohemians are now the only members-only club in the League of Ireland.
SUSPENSION REDUCED
Ringmahon Rangers have had their suspension from the Club Orange Men's FAI Cup reduced to three years following an arbitration hearing. The Cork club had been banned for five years and fined €5,000 after withdrawing from their second round tie with Bohemians. Rangers had also been excluded from the FAI Intermediate Cup for three seasons and fined €5,000. Those punishments were upheld. Rangers and Bohs were due to meet on July 19 but the Munster Senior League club decided to forgo the fixture. With the Cork club’s home ground not an option for an FAI Cup game, the club had sought to use Cobh Ramblers’ St Colman's Park, as Turner's Cross was also unavailable. Ringmahon had also cited a possible clash with the All-Ireland hurling final which Cork were favorites to qualify for. But Galway solved that problem when they beat Cork in the All-Ireland hurling semi-final.
SUPERSTARS MAKE
CONTASTING EXITS
Cristiano Ronaldo's old rival Leo Messi left Argentina less than a month ago with a nation applauding him. The Portugal legend has gone another way, and it was always going to be the case. The 41-year-old announced his international retirement last week after 23 years but also after a fallout with coach Jorge Jesus which was resolved with a sanction of 30 days, that had already been served, and a fine of 255 euros.
53 RED CARDS
IS NEW RECORD
A world record of 53 red cards were shown during a chaotic under-20s game in Brazil last week. The semi-final first leg of the Minas Gerais Under-20 Championship tie between Uberlandia and Mamore was marred by scenes that led to 43 players and eight members of coaching staff being sent off. Two Uberlandia board members were also dismissed, taking the tally up to 53. The previous record was 36, in a 2011 fifth-division game between Club Atletico Claypole and Victoriano Arenas in Argentina.
PARKER APPOINTED
Last week West Ham appointed Scott Parker as head coach after sacking Nuno Espirito Santo. The 52-year-old Portuguese paid the price for The Hammers disappointing start to the Championship season, having overseen their relegation from the EPL last April. The former England midfielder who left Burnley last May when they were relegated from the EPL, had four seasons as a player with the Hammers and led Bournemouth and Burnley to promotion from the Championship as a manager.
