Columns - Irish Examiner

Liam Mackey

Irish lack of invention proves why we must fear Wexit day

At a stretch, you could call these the best of times and the worst of times for the boys in green.

Sat, 01 Apr, 2017

A matter of life and death

He was our man. He was the man that, when you had the big bullies from the big clubs coming up to us, we’d say, ‘You know what, we’ve got Ryan and Ryan will help us’. And that’s what he did, writes Liam Mackey.

Sun, 26 Mar, 2017

Scouting the next fairytale with Brian Carey

Spurs scout and former Cork City player Brian Carey dreams of unearthing the next Jamie Vardy, a player he admired at non-league level for his blistering pace, writes Liam Mackey.

Sun, 19 Mar, 2017

The Champions League night when all heaven broke loose at Camp Nou

Sceptical voices have been raised at the generosity of the refereeing, but none of the game’s most contentious incidents could be described as definitive miscarriages of justice, writes Liam Mackey.

Sat, 11 Mar, 2017

Michelle O'Neill is always putting her reputation on the line

Where cases of mistaken identity occur on the football pitch, we usually picture a ref handing out a card to the wrong player but the tables were turned somewhat on RTÉ’s ‘Soccer Republic’ last Monday when the commentator for the St Pat’s-Bray game managed to rename assistant referee Michelle O’Neill as ‘Michelle Smith’, an error not without a little added irony since the official’s day job happens to be as a swimming instructor.

Sat, 04 Mar, 2017

Sevilla FC v Leicester City - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: First Leg

Nothing personal, Claudio Ranieri, for Leicester City it’s just business as usual

Before adding my tuppence worth to the wave of revulsion at The Defenestration Of Father Christmas – AKA the sacking of a football manager - a quick word about another extraordinary tale of the unexpected which might have passed you by this week.

Sat, 25 Feb, 2017

League of Ireland season dawn brings fear and fanfare

Liam Mackey looks ahead to a new season of domestic football in Ireland.

Sat, 18 Feb, 2017

Sadly, the time to abolish replays has arrived

I don’t recall, as an 11-year-old, being aware I was watching an exhibition of sport as a thinly disguised substitute for war, writes Liam Mackey.

Sat, 11 Feb, 2017

The rise and fall of Leicester City

Unless Arsenal can recover from the shock of losing at home to Watford and produce a surprise win at Stamford Bridge tomorrow, there’s every prospect of Chelsea’s pursuit of the title turning into a procession.

Sat, 04 Feb, 2017

It's win or bust for First Division clubs

Possibly nothing more cogently expresses the mixture of dismay and desperation felt across the League of Ireland First Division at the scrapping of the promotion-relegation play-offs than the proposal, aired at a meeting of club representatives in Wexford last week, that the top three teams in the second tier would take part in an internal play-off at the end of this season, with the front-runners facing the winners of second v third in a one-off game to decide promotion to the 10-team Premier Division in 2018.

Sun, 29 Jan, 2017