| 30 September: Winkie Continues Comeback |
Winkie Murphy is set to continue his comeback from a serious knee injury with an appearance in tonight's friendly with the Kenyan national side. Winkie has been out of action since damaging his cruciate ligament last November and follows David Larmour who made his first team comeback on Saturday.
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| Also tonight, and David Jeffrey could be set to include former Coventry midfielder Mark Magennis in the side. The Northern Ireland U18 player has recently been released by the English First Division club. |
| 28 September: Man of the Match Poll |
The Man of the match poll for the Coleraine game is now active. Find the link on the right hand side of the page and register your vote. You have until Friday to do so.
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| 28 September: Irish Premier League Latest Results |
Linfield 2 Coleraine 0
Ards 1 Glentoran 2
Cliftonville 2 Institute 0
L Distillery 2 Crusaders 1
Newry 2 Glenavon 2 (played Fri)
Portadown 3 Omagh 1 |
| 28 September: Man of the Match Poll |
| Congratulations to Glenn Ferguson who you voted as your Man of the Match for last Saturday's League victory over Crusaders. Glenn topped the poll with 42% of the vote. |
| 25 September: Now Let That be a Lesson |
| No sniggering at the back. It seems the Glens have been severely punished for playing the ineligible Andy Kilmartin - the loss of 12 league points AND dismissal from the CIS Cup. Oh, and you can also throw in a £7,000 fine. What's it like being bottom of the league? :-) |
| 24 September: CIS Cup Result - Greater Belfast Section |
| Glentoran 1 Linfield 1 |
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| A first half penalty save from Alan Mannus (Michael O'Neill the suffering Glenman) and a late equaliser from Stephen Shaw ensuring that the first Big Two game of the season ended all square. |
| 24 September: Laws to Tackle Sectarian Chants |
Tonight's Belfast Telegraph reports that new laws are set to be put in place to tackle sectarian violence and chants at sports grounds. This would be an extension of the Football (Offences) Act which is currently law in England and Wales and was introduced to eradicate hooliganism and racism. The act also makes it an offence to throw objects towards the pitch or rival spectators and to take part in indecent or racist chanting or invade the pitch.
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| And about time, if you ask me. Here's hoping the authorities and clubs have the gonads to take action against offenders. |
| 22 September: Congratulations and Jubilations |
Congratulations today go to Glenn Ferguson who yesterday scored his 100th Linfield goal in the 3-1 victory over Crusaders. Glenn's milestone goal came in his 202nd game for the Blues and was also his 350th career goal.
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| Also congratulations to Dungannon Swifts who yesterday won their first trophy as a senior club. Their 3-1 win at Bangor ensured they finished top of the Ulster Cup table. |
| 21 September: Man of the Match Poll |
The Man of the match poll for the Crusaders game is now active. Find the link on the right hand side of the page and register your vote.
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| 21 September: Irish Premier League Results |
Crusaders 1 Linfield 3
Coleraine 2 Ards 0
Glenavon 1 L Distillery 2
Glentoran 0 Portadown 1
Institute 3 Newry 2 (played Fri)
Omagh 2 Cliftonville 1 (played Fri) |
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| 21 September: Man of the Match Poll |
| Congratulations to Stephen Shaw who you voted as your Man of the Match for last Saturday's home League victory over Ards. Stephen, who I personally predict will be the next Irish League player to move to full-time football either in England or Scotland ( not trying to put too much pressure on you Stephen ;-) ), topped the poll with 53% of the vote. |
| 20 September: A New Oval? |
| According to tonight's Belfast Telegraph our friends from the east could be set to announce plans to move from the Oval into a new purpose built stadium close to the Odyssey. What have I been saying for a couple of years now that Linfield should do? Carrick, Ards and Bangor have already announced plans to move to newly built stadiums and now the Glens look set to follow suit. Bold plans indeed from all four teams, but at what cost? |
| 20 September: Guilty or Not? |
| It's a story that has been running for a couple of days now, but it does seem as if the Glens are set to lose points gained whilst playing the ineligible Andrew Kilmartin. It seems the player who was a professional in Scotland with Celtic, was registered as an amateur by the Glens, and of course anyone with any sense knows that once a player becomes a professional he cannot revert to being an amateur. With Glenavon having been penalised by the loss of point(s) last season it appears that the IFA have no alternative but punish the Glens in a similar way. |
| 17 September: CIS Cup |
| Unless I can't count (which is quite possible) I reckon that following Glentoran's scoreless draw with Bangor in the CIS Cup this evening, Linfield have qualified for the quarter-finals. |
| 17 September: The Cost of Upgrading Windsor |
In the absence of the building of a new National Stadium the only viable alternative is to redevelop Windsor Park, but at what cost? £15.5m according to this evening's Belfast Telegraph. Linfield officials have been working with architects for quite a while now, and the following is a break down of the work that needs done, and the costs involved:
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replacement lighting in North Stand - £300,000
replacement of South Stand - £9.1m
replacement East Stand - £2.4m
commercial office accommodation - £900,000
changing pavilion at West Stand - £380,000
new pitch including under-soil heating and sprinkler system - £750,000
general site works including turnstiles - £700,000
floodlighting - £300,000
NIE upgrade - £60,000
general refurbishment - £20,000
PA system - £200,000
CCTV - £250,000
preventive maintenance/diversions - £200,000
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| I've already made my own feelings on the matter clear elsewhere on the site. |
| 15 September: Man of the Match Poll |
The Man of the match poll for the Ards game is now active. Find the link on the right hand side of the page and register your vote.
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| Meanwhile, congratulations to Miguel Chines who you voted as your Man of the Match for last Saturday's League draw at Glenavon. |
| 15 September: Irish Premier League Results - played Saturday |
Linfield 3 Ards 1
Cliftonville 0 Glentoran 1
Crusaders 0 Glenavon 2
L Distillery 1 Instutute 2
Newry 1 Omagh 4 (played Fri)
Portadown 1 Coleraine 2 |
| 12 September: Site Updates |
| I'm off home for the weekend. As usual, site updates when I return. |
| 12 September: Great Name from Past Passes Away |
| Mickey McWilliams, former Belfast Celtic and Linfield left-half, has died at his home in Bangor (Sept 10). McWilliams who played gaelic in his youth joined Celtic in 1937 before moving to Linfield in 1942 where he found himself in a talented squad with players of the calibre of Alex Ormston, Bill Mould, Syd Peppitt and Frank Baker, - the Stoke quartet, - Bob Bryson, Sammy McCrory and Davy Cochrane. Deepest sympathies to his wife and family. |
| 10 September: CIS Cup Results - Greater Belfast Section |
Lisburn Distillery 1 Linfield 2 (McCann, Ferguson)
Ards 1 Glentoran 3 |
| 9 September: Blues Receive Backing from Unlikely Source |
Linfield today received backing in their fight against Roy Keane/Eamon Dunphy from a very unlikely source - a former Sinn Fein member. Phil Flynn who was also once chairman of Dundalk FC has said he would stand up in court if necessary and defend Linfield against Keane's charges of religious bigotry.
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You can read the full Observer article here.
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| 8 September: Skipper Sings Praises of New Boy |
Noel Bailie has today been singing the praises of the talented Miguel Chines. Mozambique born Chines only made his competitive first team debut on Tuesday eveing in the game with Bangor, but already he has wowed both fans and journalists. Speaking in today's Sunday Life, Bailie says:
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"He's very skilful and has a beautiful left foot. He's pacey and has enough tricks to dazzle you. I know because I've seen it all and have been one of his victims in training. The lad doesn't lack confidence either. Last week in a Steel & Sons Cup tie he scored a hat-trick including a marvellous Beckham style free-kick. Lee Feeney was down to take it but Miguel muscled in, told Lee where he was going to put it, and did. That's confidence for you."
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"Miguel can be a big asset for us. Much is expected from him and I for one am convinced the team and the supporters won't be disappointed. Obviously the more he plays the better he'll become. But we must remember he's still young so we mustn't expect a man-of-the-match performance every time. What I like about him too is his attitude. He's also quiet, a nice lad who is prepared to listen and learn. With so many clubs cutting back it's good that hitherto hidden talent like Miguel's is set to get an opportunity to shine. I've no doubt we're on a winner."
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| 7 September: Man of the Match Poll |
| The Man of the match poll for the Glenavon game is now active. Find the link on the right hand side of the page and register your vote. |
| 7 September: Irish Premier League Results |
Glenavon 0 Linfield 0
Ards 0 Portadown 2
Coleraine 1 Cliftonville 1
Glentoran 3 Newry 1
Institute 2 Crusaders 0
Omagh 3 L Distillery 0 |
| 6 September: Kenya Believe It? |
| The Kenyan National team have reportedly approached Linfield with a view to playing the Blues as a warm up for their African nations Cup Qualifying campaign. Linfield officials have accepted the invitation and have suggested September 30 as a possible date. |
| 3 September: CIS Cup Results - Greater Belfast Section |
Linfield 3 (Ferguson (2), Chines) Bangor 0
Glentoran 2 L Distillery 1 |
| 2 September: Blues to Ponder Legal Action |
Linfield chairman Billy McCoubrey has revealed the club are contemplating taking legal action following comments made in Roy Keane's by now infamous autobiography. In a section of the book dealing with the Northern Ireland v Rep of Ireland World Cup Qualifier in Belfast in 1993 (the game that saw the Republic qualify for USA 94), Keane blames the hostile atmosphere on Linfield's signing of Senegalese midfielder Tony Coly.
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"For the first time in it's history Linfield had recently signed a Catholic, a decision that caused great controversy. The player, who was also black, another major problem for Linfield's bigoted supporters, didn't last long. (Nor did the manager who signed him.)"
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Tony Coly and Sam Khammal had actually signed for Linfield some 5 years before this particular game, and far from being sacked not long after, (as is hinted in the book), Roy Coyle was still at Windsor the following season when he signed another pair of Africans on loan.
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| Billy McCoubrey has said that senior officers of the club will look through the text before consulting legal advisers, while the manager in question Roy Coyle has also reportedly said he will be consulting lawyers about the contents of the book. |
