Dowie, Keegan, Magilton or Sanchez: Who will be the new Northern Ireland manager?

After a dismal qualifying campaign, Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington did the honourable thing and resigned. Now the search is on for a new manager and there has been no shortage of experienced names throwing their hats into the ring. Former England boss Kevin Keegan is reportedly the latest...

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Can any player, including Messi, be considered 'the greatest'?

Ah, the Champions League. Bringer of drama, stopper of dreamers, platform for Ray Wilkins to say ‘my word’ 50 hundred thousand times. And there are other things that are nearly always discussed, certainly when seeing the two dominant Spanish sides play. The great debate has moved from trying to ...

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Public Enemy No1 - Celtic boss Neil Lennon

The world of football management is tough, but few men have endured Neil Lennons baptism of fire. We are not talking about a home defeat to Hibs or a crippling injury crises. These troubles extend way beyond sporting boundaries. I mean how many managers have to worry about the colour of their car? ...

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Top 10 bizarre injuries to footballers

Swansea City’s vice-captain Alan Tate is set to miss most of the Swans’ debut season in Premier League after breaking his leg in a freak golfing accident. The versatile defender was a passenger in a golf buggy that lost control and Tate will have to watch the majority of the club’s rollercoaster adv...

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Who's Going To Be At Euro 2012?

The qualifying groups for Euro 2012 are reaching the business end and its becoming a little clearer which players will be in Poland and Ukraine and which ones will be spending extra time on the beach. Places Booked As usual Germany have headed the way in qualification. Aside from a sticky period a...

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Squarefootball's Fantasy football invitation

There is less than two weeks to go until the start of the 2011/12 Premier League season and time is running out for you to enter the Squarefootball fantasy football competition. Last season more than 100 teams competed for the Squarefootball title, which was won by P Oxenby and his team FC Poxo. He...

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What five things would you do before the season starts?

Isn’t it normally New Years Eve when you get a top 100 favourite moments of the year or top 500 best movie credits or some other poor excuse for a programme? Well I thought I would also use it as a poor excuse for an article, but rather than boring you all with a list consisting of 100 or more items...

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Football in 3D - A new risk to average attendances?

The world has evolved and developed a lot since the 1950s with the invention, evolution and development of everything from bladeless fans to electric cars and high definition broadcasts and beyond, but what have the boffins responsible for 3D been doing for 60 years since its inception? 3D today i...

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Would you like to write for Squarefootball?

Do you live, breathe and sleep football? Do you have a passion for writing and want your views to be read by a potential audience of millions? Then we at Squarefootball Towers would love to hear from you. Whether you follow Aberdeen or Accrington Stanley, West Ham United or Wolfsburg, we can offer ...

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Squarefootball fantasy football invitation 2010/11

I saw more action and excitement this summer down at the mortuary than I did at the World Cup in South Africa. There was also a better atmosphere between me and my ex-girlfriend than there was inside the grounds, thanks to the constant drone of those awful vuvuzelas. And as for entertainment, I th...

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Northern Ireland Back In The Hunt For World Cup 2010

Saturdays excellent victory over Poland put Northern Ireland back in the running for a place at World Cup 2010 and finally dispelled the sense of anti-climax that had hung over the squad in the past year. Players and supporters had to cope with the disappointing end to what had been a terrific camp...

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Saturday Yankee - Home internationals

The five British and Irish international teams are all in action today; with England playing Slovakia in a friendly but Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Wales and Scotland all in competitive action trying to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Lets see Group 4 - Wales vs Finland (3pm) With Germ...

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Why avoid the easy answer to Team GB at the 2012 Olympics?

There are reports that FIFA is to allow a British team to compete at the Olympics without affecting the beaurocratic meetings that the home nations consider so important to belong to. This of course being the real reason that the Scottish FA so vociferously object to an Olympic team. Part of the a...

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4792: Crunch Time For Northern Irela

by : Hugh Larkin Nigel Worthington’s side are now facing the two games that could decide whether they qualify for their first Euro Finals. A minimum of 4 points is the requirement from away trips to Latvia and Iceland. The way the fixtures have worked, the Irish came out of the summer to take on a...

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4755: Northern Ireland- No Slip Ups

by : Hugh Larkin While most of Europe are engaged in friendlies Northern Ireland have a serious encounter on Wednesday night, although it seems strange calling a match up with Liechtenstein a must-win encounter. The Irish side go into this game without Lawrie Sanchez at the helm and so they need t...

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4509: Northern Ireland; Sanchez Put

by : Stephen Orford If there was any doubt that club football reigns supreme over the international game, it all but evaporated on Friday (May 11) when Lawrie Sanchez resigned as Northern Ireland manager to take over at Fulham on a full-time basis. The former Wimbledon midfielder has worked relat...

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4333: Northern Ireland: How to quali

by : Hugh Larkin An absolutely stunning victory for Northern Ireland over Sweden at Windsor Park has left Lawrie Sanchez and his team top of Group F and dreaming of their first ever European Championship qualification. There are 6 games left to pull it off. 22nd August 2007; Liechtenstein at Wind...

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4326: David Healy: The Superstar Fro

by : Hugh Larkin What’s a good scoring record for an international striker? How about 27 goals in 55 caps? That’s a stunning tally and you would expect that player to be in one of Europe’s premier Leagues but David Healy operates for Leeds United in the Championship. Everything about the man born ...

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3731: Denmark v. Northern Ireland: N

by : Hugh Larkin Lawrie Sanchez ‘s squad pulled off another terrific result at the Parken Stadium and if they can beat Latvia on Wednesday, qualification becomes a possibility. Maik Taylor 8/10 A calm, assured performance from one of Sanchez’s real stalwarts. The men in front of him made sure he h...

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3183: What if there was one Ireland

by : Chris Kilpatrick Eriksson is more cautious: "The first thing I had to check was whether he can handle it and everyone we spoke to said yes. He is a very steady boy. "I don't think Walcott or Arsene Wenger thinks he is going to play seven games of 90 minutes in the World Cup. "If you expect...

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2371: Northern Ireland: A win in Aus

by : Chris Sherrard Well was it a case of too much false expectation on Northern Ireland’s players after the England victory? Wales brought them down to earth with a bang on Saturday. Or so it looks on paper if you consider who took away the three points. But in all honesty that was a false scor...

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2289: Northern Ireland: Back on the

by : Chris Sherrard So this is what it feels like to exist. For so long Northern Irish football has been reduced to a footnote, an ‘and finally’ line at the end of sparkling tales of how great England are. Northern Ireland’s supporters have lived through the bad times. On and off the pitch it has...

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2287: Northern Ireland vs England: N

by : Antony Melvin One of the most glorious nights at the famous old stadium (how many can there be left in world football that are older?). Northern Ireland were the better team - and the better team won. Maik Taylor 10/10 Great saves from Beckham and Owen. Taylor exuded calm. Chris Baird 7/10...

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1834: England vs Northern Ireland: N

by : Antony Melvin Northern Ireland went to Manchester hoping to stifle England and get a goal on the break. The first half went to plan – but the opening third of the second half saw 4 goals and utter heartbreak. Maik Taylor 9/10 Kept the team in the game until the second half, with a series of...

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1825: Northern Ireland: The tricky s

by : Chris Sherrard Northern Ireland’s chances of beating England at Old Trafford on Saturday are about as slim as your average supermodel. But the fact remains: they have still got a chance. And if they are to spring a surprise it is in their forward players that the Irish will be pinning their h...

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1815: Northern Ireland: Belief and s

by : Chris Sherrard For Northern Irish football there doesn’t come many bigger occasions, certainly in the last number of years, than playing England in front of a packed house at Old Trafford. For so long the Belfast boys have been in the international wilderness with nobody outside of the provin...

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1442: Home Nations Review 2004: Sanc

by : Alex Wolstenholme Out of the game since being sacked by Wycombe Wanderers, Lawrie Sanchez was a surprise choice as manager of Northern Ireland after Sammy McIlroy’s departure and one that was greeted with scepticism in some quarters with the former Wimbledon player being seen as the cheap opti...

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1128: NORTHERN IRELAND: Lawrie’s men

by : Chris Sherrard Northern Ireland take on the only team ranked below them in the group when they face Azerbaijan in Baku on Saturday evening. Hopes and expectations are high once more around the province that they could finally win a competitive game of football after such a long wait. The sign...

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1037: NORTHERN IRELAND: Superb fight

by : Chris Sherrard The midweek blockbusting battle between Wales and Northern Ireland was a great advert for British football. There were lots of goals, incidents and, best of all, Robbie Savage getting clattered. Although he was a bit hard done by to receive his first ever red card for that, it...

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977: NORTHERN IRELAND: Back from th

by : Chris Sherrard No, I’m not going to be the one who says it. It will jinx them and they’ll fall away to embarrassed obscurity again. They have had a couple of false starts already. Besides, it might not be true. Oh ok, I will say it: Northern Ireland are back. Not to their best, or anywhere clo...

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556: NORTHERN IRELAND: Still crazy,

by : Stephen Orford The appointment of Lawrie Sanchez as Northern Ireland manager came as something of a surprise to many observers in the game. Hot favourite for the post had been Dunfermline assistant manager Jimmy Nicholl, but after much deliberating since the defection of Sammy McIlroy to Stoc...

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510: NORTHERN IRELAND: Eriksson to

by : John Monaghan Aliadiere is just one of the stars that Wenger appears to be grooming, even if only infrequently. Gael Clichy has been prominent in recent fixtures although his role may largely be as squad player once Ashley Cole returns, while Swiss defender Phillipe Senderos has been likened t...

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