SO, it was Man United against lower league opposition in the Cup, and it was a six-goal winning margin to boot but, really, it was the mud what done it.

The most famous story about George Best — at least off the field — is one probably everybody has heard.

When you walk around the National Football Museum in Manchester, you see many of the things you would expect to see in any museum.

In days gone by, a winger wasn’t a winger unless the soles of his boots were covered in white paint from spending so much time standing on the touchline; and that’s a tradition which might be making a return in 2019-20.

In the realms of the imagination, more is usually better. Why restrict ourselves to one make-believe island?

Jim Stokes has been synonymous with Ulster rugby for over three decades.

Sergio Parisse has nothing much to show for 16 years of international rugby beyond a global admiration for his gallantry in the face of overwhelming odds.

From Strictly Come Dancing to I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, the TV listings have been full of treats lately.

If you have had enough of the World Cup, fear not. Here I am, as always, to help you out. Or to sharpen your dress sense, at least.

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

Donnacha Ryan has come a long way in a very short time, from Tipperary across the Pyrenees via Paris for a crack at joining one of rugby’s rarest breeds.

The fortunes of Manchester City and Chelsea have followed vaguely parallel paths for much of the last five decades, but on the evidence of this match at the Etihad, the two clubs are heading in different directions right now.

Fr Ted writer Arthur Mathews has been going to the Drogs for years. Liam Mackey finds out why. 

In Paris tonight, during a television programme hosted by David Ginola, the famous Ballon d’Or trophy will be presented for the 62nd time.

Northern Ireland’s elder statesmen are driven by a desire to feature at a World Cup finals before they call it a day, defender Chris Brunt has said.

Des O’Driscoll looks ahead to this week’s viewing schedule.

Inevitably, the word ‘addiction’ features early in George Best: All By Himself, the documentary aired on the BBC this week.

Olivia O’Toole was part of the Republic of Ireland senior women’s team between 1991 and 2009. Winning more than 130 caps, she remains the team’s record goalscorer having netted 54 times. Born and bred in Dublin’s north inner-city, she remains embedded in the local community and works as a recreation officer with Dublin City Council.

To have an airport called after you demands a wider international celebrity most Irish sportspeople simply do not have, writes Paul Rouse.

Thinking of going to the cinema this week? Declan Burke reviews Patriots Day, A Cure for Wellness and George Best: All By Himself.

In 2014 Dan Gordon was approached by a production company to direct a film-length documentary about George Best but the English director’s research had already begun inadvertently two years earlier.

If Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal to victory in the final of Euro 2016, will his career have been more successful than rival Lionel Messi, asks Robert McNamara

Adrian Cullinane shows off his 1957 VW Camper Splitscreen

Their motto is “dare to dream”, and, despite the disappointing scoreline, the thousands of Northern Ireland supporters literally danced out of the fan zone in Belfast.

Asking what’s wrong with Rory McIlroy is a bit like that old joke about George Best, Miss World and the bed in £50 notes. When a player racks up six Top-10 finishes from nine stroke-play starts, there really shouldn’t be any reason to start pressing any alarm bells.

At half-time yesterday, one of my ageing colleagues, known for his punchy pessimism, summed up proceedings better than I could: “Same old shoite, then. A team full of physically weak cowards, and the only hope of a goal is if Martial makes something out of nothing.”

The sad news on Thursday of the death of Johan Cruyff sent me back to David Winner’s Brilliant Orange, a book as unconventional and imaginative as the Dutch football culture which it investigates and celebrates.

As the saying goes: ’Pele good, Maradona better, George Best’.

Paul McGrath talks Fergie, Busby and explains why nothing will ever compare with Italia 90, writes Phil Campion