My Blog (Eugene Ward)

Footballers banned, officials banned, fans banned. Teams facing travel disruption . Crazy ticket prices, crazy transport prices. All the indications are that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be a disaster. FIFA has sold the soul of football by giving the tournament to the United States and allowing it to be a tool in Trump's sportswashing . The last two World Cups were in Russia , which had already invaded Crimea by then, and Qatar, which used slave labor to build the stadiums, so FIFA has always been short on ethics. That said, the 2022 tournament was one of the best in terms of football, maybe because it was played mid-season and in the end, people concentrated on the football. I've always been enthralled by the World Cup; my earliest memory was Northern Ireland v Brazil in 1986, England v Paraguay on the same evening as the Rovers Return fire in Coronation Street , and of course, Maradona. I wasn't too emotionally involved, but I remember it. By 1990, I was obsess...

People regularly say it and it is true, football has definitely gone to the dogs. Seeing the world's most famous current football with a man waging an illegal war on the people of Iran, is grotesque to say the least. Of course, winning Ametican.sports teams being invited to the Oval Office is nothing new, but ironically only the American Women''s Ice Hockey team had the balls to say no. Messi is regularly compared to Maradona, but I have no doubt Diego would have rejected the invitation to visit the President of the United States.Maradona's principed stand on issies of the time such as South Africa, Palestine and Cuba is in stark contrast to the money driven footballers of today. WORLD CUP BOYCOTTS There is talk of Iran boycotting the World Cup and Iraq will have difficulties getting to the play-off at the end of March. There has been rumours online about Spain threatening a  boycott ( 1 ) but nothing is official as yet.  Writing on March 6th I defintely thi...

  DERRY CITY – 2026 LEAGUE PREDICTIONS (FULL LIST) FEBRUARY #1 Fri 6th – Sligo Rovers [H] → Derry 2–0 Sligo   Reality 2-1 #2 Fri 13th – Dundalk [A] → 1–1 Draw  (Played in April) #3 Fri 20th – Bohemians [H] → Derry 2–1 Bohs   Reality 0-1 #4 Fri 27th – Waterford [H] → Derry 3–0 Waterford  Reality 4-2 MARCH #5 Fri 6th – Shamrock Rovers [A] → Rovers 2–1 Derry   Reality 1-0 #6 Fri 13th – Shelbourne [H] → Derry 2–0 Shels  Reality 1-2 #7 Mon 16th – St Patrick’s Athletic [A] → 1–1 Draw   Reality 0-0 #8 Fri 20th – Drogheda United [H] → Derry 2–0 Drogheda  Reality 2-2 — International break — APRIL #9 Fri 3rd – Galway United [A] → Galway 1–0 Derry   #10 Mon 6th – Sligo Rovers [A] → 1–1 Draw   #11 Fri 10th – Dundalk [H] → Derry 2–1 Dundalk  Reality 2-2 #12 Fri 17th – Shelbourne [A] → 1–1 Draw   #13 Fri 24th – Shamrock Rovers [H] → 2–2 Draw   MAY #14 Fri 1st – Bohemians [A] → Bohs...

Ireland's football association. (FAl) has today voted in favour of submitting a motion to UEFA to ban Israel from all club and international competitions This is great news. The Russian national teams and Russian clubs were banned in 2022, the same should happen to Israel. Sporting ostracisation was important in ending the apartheid regime in South Africa, the same should happen with Israel. I think it is good that Peru are facing Russia in a friendly in St. Petersburg on.Wednesday, not because I am a fan of Russia per se, but because Russia's exclusion and Israel's inclusion illistrate the hypocracy of football's governing bodies. There are certain match-ups banned in international football; Russia-Ukraine, Gibraltar-Spain, Kosovo-Serbia, Armenia-Azerbaijan. If a total ban on Israeli teams cannot be achieved, I would like to see Ireland-Israel added to that list. 🇮🇪🤝🇵🇸

  Good luck to Derry City in Kazakstan as they try and get through another round of the UEFA Conference League. Derry have faced such a long trip and will be hoping to get a positive result to take back to Ireland next week   . It was disappointing that they were not allowed to play the second leg in Belfast, the IFA said yes, Linfield said yes, it was UEFA that said no. Playing the 2nd leg at Windsor Park would have been interesting given the history Derry has with Linfield and the IFA, but UEFA rules wouldn't allow it https://www.rte.ie/.../1398991-uefa-turn-down-derry.../   The idea of playing at Windsor Park make me think..What if Derry rejoined the Irish League? Wouldn't an All-Ireland football league be better than the current situation? Is a summer season or Friday night games really best for football in Ireland?   Playing the second leg in Dublin puts Derry at a major disadvantage in the tie and it takes away from the enjoyment of reaching this stage of the...

France v Argentina. World Cup Final 🇫🇷🇦🇷 FIFA say it has been the best World Cup ever. Everyone has a favourite World Cup dependent on whether their team is in it, how they did, and memories of watching the games. My favourite World Cup was Italia'90. I know it wasn't the best tournament in terms of the games but Ireland qualified for the first time and got to the Quarter Finals, although  the team only scored 2 goals in 480 minutes of football. 1990 was the first World Cup I was truely excited about. I remember Mexico'86, I have vague memories of Northern Ireland v Brazil and the final but 1990 was the first I watched with interest. 2002 also stands out, the early morning games.  In the Fir Trees Hotel at 0730h to watch Ireland-Cameroon. Celebrating Robbie Keane's equaliser against Germany. The heartache of a defeat to Spain on penalties. There has been a few shocks this year but the final pits the current World Champions against the winners of the Finalissima; the...