News

Controversy reigned at the Hawthorns this evening with hosts West Bromwich Albion securing a Championship point in the final minutes of their contest with visitors Aston Villa with a hugely disputed equaliser which was clearly handled and admitted post match by the player involved.  The ‘Baggies’ remain in third position with the visiting ‘Villans’ four points further back in eight position. Wes Hoolihan was an unused substitute for the hosts while the visitors included Conor Hourihane in their starting eleven with Glenn Whelan a very late substitute and Scott Hogan unused on the bench. 

The draws for the Elite Stages of the 2019 European Championships at both U17 and U19 level took place at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon this Thursday morning. The draws for the Qualifying Stages of the 2020 Competitions were also made today.

Ireland, as Tournament Finals Host, were not involved in the U17 Elite Stage draw, with Head Coach Colin O’Brien set to continue preparation for the May 2019 Finals with a series of friendly internationals.

In the Elite Stage draw, our U19 side were drawn in Group One alongside Russia, who will host the mini-tournament between the 20th and 26th March 2019, Azerbaijan and Romania. The Group Winners only qualify for the July 2019 Finals in Armenia.

The draw for the U17 Qualifying Stage of the 2020 competition saw  Ireland drawn in Group 3, which we will host, alongside Israel, Montenegro and Andorra. The top two from the qualifying group qualify for the Elite Stage of the 2020 competition. The matches will be played between the 12th and 18th October 2019.

The draw for the U19 Qualifying Stage of the 2020 competition saw  Ireland drawn in Group 10 alongside Austria, who will host the mini-tournament between the 13th and 19th November 2019, Switzerland and Gibraltar. The top two from the qualifying group qualify for the Elite Stage of the 2020 competition.

 

The Gibraltar Football Association has intimated that they wish to play their opening EURO 2020 qualifier against Ireland at their home ground the Victoria Stadium. The ground capacity is 2,300 with Ireland set to receive just 300 tickets for the match. The contest is scheduled to kick-off at 6pm local time (5pm Irish time) on the afternoon of Saturday the 23rd March 2019.
The March meeting of RISSC (London), originally scheduled for Friday the 22nd March, will now be brought forward to Thursday the 21st March at 7.30pm.  

Struggling Burnley, with Robbie Brady in their starting eleven and  Jeff Hendrick and Kevin Long unused on the substitute bench, went down to a three one defeat by visitors Liverpool at Turf Moor in the Premier League this Wednesday evening. Seamus Coleman started for Everton who were held to a one all draw by visitors Newcastle United for whom Ciaran Clark was an unused substitute at Goodison Park while Fulham and Cyrus Christie also played out a one all draw with visitors Leicester City at Craven Cottage. The hamstring injury suffered by Michael Obafemi on Saturday ruled him out of the Southampton side which went down to a three one defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium. Matt Doherty provided the pass for the goal which enabled Wolverhampton Wanderers to come from behind and secure a two one victory over visitors Chelsea at Molineaux.

Shane Duffy was dismissed for violent conduct just twenty eight minutes into his club Brighton & Hove Albion’s three one victory over visitors Crystal Palace in the Premier League this Tuesday evening. Declan Rice was in his customary midfield position for West Ham United who defeated visitors Cardiff City and Harry Arter by three goals to one at the London Stadium. Injury ruled Greg Cunningham out of the visiting ‘Bluebirds’ side.

West Bromwich Albion, with Wes Hoolihan an unused substitute, conceded an added time equaliser to visitors Brentford in the Championship on Monday evening. The ‘Baggies’ dominated the first half but failed to score until midway through the second half and paid the price with the ‘Bees’ scoring the late equaliser. Alan Judge started in an unfamiliar wide left position for Brentford and was rarely involved until switching to his more familiar position in the central/right side area late in the second half.

The qualifying draw for the UEFA EURO 2020 Championship took place at the Convention Centre in Dublin this Sunday morning and saw Ireland [33] drawn in Qualifying Group D alongside Switzerland [8], Denmark [10], Georgia [89] and Gibraltar [194].
Current FIFA Ranking in brackets.

Fixture Schedule

Saturday 23 March	v	Gibraltar	(A)
Tuesday 26 March	v	Georgia	(H)
Friday 7 June	v	Denmark	(A)
Monday 10 June	v	Gibraltar	(H)
Thursday 5 September	v	Switzerland	(H)
Saturday 12 October	v	Georgia	(A)
Tuesday 15 October	v	Switzerland	(A)
Monday 18 November	v	Denmark	(H)

It is likely that friendly matches will be arranged for the September and November dates when single Qualifiers are scheduled.

There are 24 places available at the Finals with 20 of those to be secured by the countries finishing first and second in the ten qualifying groups which were drawn in Dublin today. The remaining four places will go to the winners of a new play-off system linked to the UEFA Nations League, the first phase of which finished last month.

The four UK participants have been drawn as follows:-
Group A: England, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Kosova
Group C: Holland, Germany, N Ireland, Estonia, Belarus
Group E: Croatia, Wales, Slovakia, Hungary, Azerbaijan
Group I: Belgium, Russia, Scotland, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, San Marino