Sport

Not the reluctant winners but the “gratefully oppressed”

Why we owe our lack of success to our fluctuating expectations and the ghost of our colonial past

“Denmark.” When it was announced that the Danes would be our opponents in the World Cup play-offs, most of us had already booked our tickets to Russia. This was a team in a similar situation to us: similar population size,

Sport

Ladies Football Club make history by qualifying for Intervarsities

DULAFC was last in the intervarsities in 2000, earning an automatic spot as the host team

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The last time DU Ladies AFC appeared in the WSCAI Intervarsity competition was in the year 2000 by earning an automatic qualifying spot as a host team, not by earning the right to play through knockout qualification. For every year

Sport

Football and the death of passion

Dylan O’Sullivan deconstructs the nature of sport as a surrogate battleground in the modern age

“It was more than just a game – it was a battle.”

As the human race has evolved over the centuries, our appetite for battle has come under increasing attack. The aggression and tribalism that led our species out of …

Sport

The League of Ireland is back and here is why it is so special

With the Airtricity League returning after a long winter break, Jake O’Donnell outlines exactly why it should not be overlooked

On Monday, November 16th of last year, 51,700 people packed into a full Aviva stadium in Dublin 4 to see Ireland’s footballers take on Bosnia in a European Championship play-off. Thousands more tried in vain to get tickets. The …

Sport

The League of Ireland and cultural capital

The far too often repeated nauseating cliché that rugby is a “hooligan’s game played by gentlemen while football is a gentlemen’s game played by hooligans” is constantly rolled out as a sweeping generalisation that is bought into by far too many people.

SPORTThis September, I moved into a flat beside Dalymount Park, former home of the Irish national football team and current home of Bohemians football club. Never having watched League of Ireland (LOI), I was intrigued by the prospect of living

Sport

The (not so) glorious art of diving

The Premier League’s “theatrical” side took centre stage this weekend, but it is what it reveals about the football world’s thinking which is really interesting.

sport1On Saturday afternoon, mid-way through the first half, part-time footballer and full-time afro-enthusiast Marouane Fellaini was strolling around the Emirates pitch, minding his own business, when this happened.

Most interpreted this as an unacceptable act of violence on Jack …