Cork City will face opposition from Luxembourg or Wales in their Europa League first qualifying round.

Noel Mooney has revealed he is open to Niall Quinn being part of the FAI’s ‘rebirth’ but admits tensions with the Government will not ease until he departs.

Kieran Tierney boosted Celtic's triple treble hopes by declaring himself fit for the William Hill Scottish Cup final against Hearts at Hampden Park on Saturday.

Celtic wrapped up an eighth-successive Scottish Premiership title with a 3-0 victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Neil Lennon felt Jozo Simunovic's header against Kilmarnock was the "perfect way" to win a game as Celtic Park honoured Billy McNeill.

Celtic centre-half Jozo Simunovic paid his own fitting tribute to Billy McNeill by heading in the winner against Kilmarnock at Parkhead.

Two more days until the dawn of a new era for the Republic of Ireland senior men’s team and, with Mick McCarthy’s hand back on the tiller, there has been an inevitable focus on the contrast between his current rank and file and those under his command when he first roamed international waters with the Boys in Green.

Shamrock Rovers midfielder Jack Byrne has received a last-minute call-up to replace the injured Callum O'Dowda in Mick McCarthy's first Republic of Ireland squad back in charge.

With the Nations League double-header against Denmark and Wales looming, Callum Robinson fired a reminder of his talents to Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill when scoring twice as Preston moved off the foot of the Championship table after a 4-0 win over Wigan.

Celtic 5 Rangers 0: Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers admits his side should have equalled their record Old Firm win after they clinched their seventh successive Premiership title in stunning style with a 5-0 thrashing of Rangers at Parkhead.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers was “a little bit surprised” to see Steven Gerrard linked to the manager’s job at city rivals Rangers.

He was thought by many to be the future of the Ibrox club's central defence.

"For me, eligibility is not, and should not, be a political issue. Nor should it be a religious issue."

Youssouf Mulumbu's second-half goal gave Kilmarnock a dramatic 1-0 Ladbrokes Premiership win over Celtic at Rugby Park with the visitors counting more than the cost of three lost points.

The Northern Ireland international had his right eye removed in 2006 after losing sight in one eye in a domestic accident when he was eight years old.

The January transfer window has not yet opened and already a huge deal has been agreed, with Virgil van Dijk heading from Southampton to Liverpool for what is understood to be £75million, the highest price ever paid for a defender.

Who knows how much money he would have made, how many caps he’d have earned, how many honours he’d have won, had Colin Healy not had his leg badly broken by an awful tackle when he was just 23. 

Sunderland boss Simon Grayson has no issue with Paddy McNair's inclusion in Northern Ireland's World Cup play-off squad, even though he only returned from an 11-month injury lay-off on Saturday.

Rangers have parted company with manager Pedro Caixinha, the club have announced.

Brendan Rodgers believes flexibility will be key to his second year in charge at Celtic.

Callum McGregor stepped off the bench to salvage a point for Celtic in a hard-fought 1-1 draw against St Johnstone at Parkhead.

Celtic were not at their best but still proved too good for Partick Thistle in a 1-0 Ladbrokes Premiership win at Firhill.

The last step is always the hardest. Just ask Chris Hughton. Two weeks ago he saw his Brighton side secure promotion to the Premier League after a 2-1 win over Wigan. 

As is the case in life, timing is everything in sport. And with Martin O’Neill set to name his squad today for the crucial World Cup qualifier with Wales on Friday week, Daryl Horgan could scarcely have picked a better time to produce a virtuoso display.

In what looks like being his final game for the club, Robbie Brady showed the Norwich supporters what they’ll miss if he finally completes a move to Burnley, providing a typically pinpoint set-piece delivery to create the second goal in the Canaries’ 2-0 Championship victory over Birmingham.

Kilmarnock 2 Celtic 2: Kallum Higginbotham scored a dramatic and cheeky late penalty as Kilmarnock came from behind twice to snatch a 2-2 draw against Celtic at Rugby Park.

The opening weekend of the Championship season was a pretty uneventful one for the Irish.

A week spent playing golf with two former Northern Ireland soccer players along with the acquisition of a very expensive putter has put Michael Hoey in contention at the BMW International Open in Munich.

It was an eventful day for the Irish at The Den on Saturday as Derby continued to stumble towards a play-off spot after twice coming from two goals down to draw 3-3 at struggling Millwall. 

Celtic succeeded in their pursuit of Dundee United pair Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven in the final stages of the transfer window.

Scottish Premiership:

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes hailed his players after they took advantage of Celtic’s postponement at Partick by beating St Johnstone to move top of the Scottish Premiership.

While the spotlight in tonight’s Champions League Group F game between APOEL of Nicosia and Barcelona will as usual mainly be on blaugrana superstars Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, Barca’s defenders will do well to keep an eye on the home side’s Cavan-born centre-forward Cillian Sheridan.

Celtic captain Scott Brown has signed a new contract with the Scottish champions that will commit him to the club until the summer of 2018, the Parkhead club have announced.

Celtic will again have their own mini-winter break after requesting a postponement of their Scottish Premiership fixture with St Johnstone on January 5.

Celtic 2 Kilmarnock 0

Colin Healy is prepared to put his aversion to Dundalk’s artificial pitch aside tonight for the sake of hunting his first league winners’ medal at the age of 34.

Wes Hoolahan was on target as Norwich came from 2-0 down to beat Cardiff 4-2 on Saturday, a win which lifted the Canaries to second in the Championship.

England suffered a bizarre disruption during their World Cup opener against Italy on Saturday night.

Celtic 3 St Mirren 0

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill has named a familiar squad for his side’s final World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Israel.