It’s not been a common pre-kick-off feeling this season but, for once, looking at a United teamsheet gave me hope last night.

Ireland’s latest trip to Copenhagen marked your correspondent’s fifth visit to the engaging Danish capital which, a couple of thunderstorms aside, presented a much sunnier, summery face than I experienced on my first trip there.

One of the earliest and most hard-earned lessons I learned in the playground as a young football neophyte was that there was no team called Manchester.

Former RTE pundit Eamon Dunphy has blamed Ireland’s management team and John Delaney for failing to secure Declan Rice as an Irish player.

Every European Cup and Champions League Final is memorable, for good reasons or bad.

As the domestic game’s big two go head to head again tonight, former Cork City player Neal Horgan argues for greater recognition of the League of Ireland at international level.

Jose Mourinho has joined in the criticism of the calamitous Carabao Cup quarter-final draw.

Ye Gods, it can’t be true but somehow it is. When Ireland take on Denmark in the World Cup play-off next month, it really will be 25 years (and a couple of weeks) since I was last in the Parken Stadium watching the two nations go head to head, writes Liam Mackey.

If not always the football, then the results continue to flow in the World Cup qualifiers. writes Liam Mackey

In a victim impact statement read out in court, his niece said she delayed coming forward to gardaí until after her grandmother – the man's mother - died.

While there is a high degree of acceptance of journalistic privilege by the courts, Judge Peter Charleton has questioned whether it extends to sources with malicious motivations, writes Dan Buckley

Wayne Rooney surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton to become Manchester United's record goalscorer with a dramatic injury-time free-kick which salvaged his side a 1-1 draw at Stoke.

And it rescued a point for United.

On a night when British challenger Decorated Knight, ridden for Roger Charlton by George Baker, landed the Group 3 ICON Meld Stakes at Leopardstown, the O’Briens again stole the show as the progressive three-year-old Arya Tara justified favouritism in the listed Stanerra Stakes.

Roger Charlton fully intends for Time Test to take his place in today’s Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.

Derby-winning jockey Pat Smullen could come in for the ride on leading Coral-Eclipse contender Time Test should his regular partner Ryan Moore be required by Aidan O’Brien.

Almanzor sprang a 20-1 surprise to give trainer Jean-Claude Rouget his second win in the French Derby at Chantilly.

Jack Charlton was Ireland manager the last time Ireland played a senior international match in Cork, and Munster’s finest provided the opposition, writes Martin Claffey.

Pallasator emerged a worthy winner of a tactical renewal of the Group Three BetVictor Henry II Stakes at Sandown yesterday.

Jason McAteer thinks that the lure of a return to club football means there’s “a big possibility” of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane departing as the Ireland management team after next month’s European Championships.

Manchester United 1 Everton 0: Manchester United started the day by honouring arguably the club’s greatest ever player by renaming the main stand The Sir Bobby Charlton Stand and ended it by keeping up the hope that Old Trafford will see Champions League football next season.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland claims organised crime gangs are running an international sex trafficking network stretching from Nigeria and Cameroon to Ireland — making them an estimated €600,000 per day.

Ralph Beckett had a smile back on his face yesterday after a “miserable 11 days” ended with Simple Verse being reinstated as the winner of this year’s Ladbrokes St Leger.

Top-class middle-distance performer Eagle Top will bid to open his account for the campaign in the Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup at Newbury today.

Wayne Rooney equalled Bobby Charlton’s all-time scoring record as England secured progress to the European Championships, but it is Roy Hodgson’s bemusing decision to take off his captain that will dominate the conversation.

Darren Randolph could hardly have picked a better time to keep a clean sheet at Anfield.

The Ballydoyle camp are “delighted” with Gleneagles ahead of today’s mouthwatering showdown with Golden Horn in the Juddmonte International.

Cougar Mountain benefited from a drop in class when winning the Invesco Pension Consultants Desmond Stakes at Leopardstown last night.

Big Orange teed himself up for a crack at the Melbourne Cup as he continued his improvement with a gutsy win in a three-way finish to a thrilling Qatar Goodwood Cup yesterday.

Packie Bonner believes that, if Martin O’Neill wants it, he should be given a shot at leading Ireland to the 2018 World Cup — even if his team, as many are now predicting, fails to make it to the Euro finals in France next year.

It was a remarkable thing to say about a summer that had just seen Diego Maradona reach his peak, but Jack Charlton wasn’t in Mexico to be entertained.

George Baker is an infrequent visitor to Newcastle but the rider left Tyneside on Saturday with the two biggest races of the track’s year in the bag, including the final John Smith’s Northumberland Plate to be run on turf with Quest For More.

Twenty-five years ago today at Italia ‘90, Brazil were beating Scotland 1-0 and Costa Rica were beating Sweden 2-1 but, putting the kibosh on what was the most keenly anticipated contest of the day back in Ireland, Jack Charlton was simply refusing to even take the pitch against Eamon Dunphy.

So impressive in a lucrative Newbury handicap on his seasonal reappearance last month, Roger Charlton’s three-year-old was a heavily supported 15-8 favourite stepped up to Group Three level.

Republic of Ireland 0 England 0: The good news: 20 years on from the Lansdowne riot, this meeting of Ireland and England in Dublin passed off without major incident.

Pleascach is set for the Irish Derby after repelling hot favourite Found to claim Classic glory in the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh yesterday.