At least we know that the Aviva crowd will definitely have something to cheer about tonight. With the friendly against the USA doubling as a John O’Shea tribute gig, the feelgood factor is already in place.

If you can’t get yourself up for a match like this, then you shouldn’t be playing football, writes Liam Mackey

Is it a product of my age or of the age we live in?

There will be a crowd in excess of 40,000 at Wembley today to see Arsenal and Chelsea contest the 2018 Women’s FA Cup final, writes Liam Mackey.

Interviewing Michael Owen, in Dublin last Sunday, the talk was always going to be dominated by his old club, Liverpool, and their latest quest for European glory, writes Liam Mackey.

The announcement of Arsene Wenger’s imminent departure from Arsenal may have come as a surprise/shock/relief/inevitability – dilute according to taste – but I don’t mind saying that it came as a personal hammer blow to me, writes Liam Mackey.

In football, as in the world about us, the whistle-blower is never too far from the headlines.

Our household’s resident young footballer found some rewarding consolation in defeat after the Irish women’s team lost 2-0 to the Netherlands in Tallaght last Tuesday night.

Manchester City haven’t become a bad team on the back of one bad night at the office, writes Liam Mackey