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On this week’s GAA Social podcast, Thomas and Oisin catch up with Danny Quinn, an All-Ireland winner with Derry in 1993, whose life was turned upside down in May 2011 when his wife Catherine passed away at the age of 42.

Danny married Catherine in between the Oak Leafers’ Ulster final victory over Donegal and All-Ireland semi-final win over Dublin and they went on to have three children: Amy, Conor and Dara.

However, just weeks after Dara’s birth, Catherine became unwell with Quinn accepting “life went down a different path” as it was discovered she had pulmonary hypertension – a terminal lung disorder only treatable by transplant.

Despite a donor being found, a double transplant at Royal Papworth Hospital in England was unsuccessful, leaving the husband and wife to return home on the eve of Christmas to break the news to their children.

“That was some kick in the teeth,” Quinn, Principal of Anahorish Primary School, told the podcast.

Following his wife’s passing, the Bellaghy native found comfort through his work, friends, family, GAA club and community.

There were challenges along the way as Quinn’s life, once dominated by Gaelic football, was now centred around raising his children and mastering the domestic tasks at home, but the can-do attitude Catherine lived by is carried on by Quinn, who says he was “very lucky to meet Catherine and I’m a better person to have met her”.

“This has not been easy. A mother going home to tell three children she is going to die is not easy. Sitting down to explain it hasn’t gone well is the worst experience of your life, but we came out the other side of it.

“It’s not a great experience and not one I want anyone to have to deal with, but it forms your character and makes you who you are. Life is to be enjoyed, so get out there and get on with it – that was Catherine’s attitude to it.

“Catherine never felt sorry for herself, just said it was one of the challenges you get and that’s how she was throughout the illness.

“What I’ve learned from this is the importance of life.”

It has been a big week for Wrexham.

The club who have already made history with three successive promotions took a major step towards potentially their biggest jump yet when they moved into the Championship play-off places.

Premier League aspirations on the pitch have also been backed up in the boardroom after it was revealed recent investment has boosted finances by almost £50m.

That incoming money marks another milestone in a Disney-documented journey from non-league to the verge of elite status, with the investment deemed to be a nod to just how valuable an asset the north Wales club have become under Hollywood pair Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac.

But where has the money come from, how does it compare to Wrexham’s rivals, and will financial fair play rules suddenly become an issue?

There has been big money involved in Wrexham before – but perhaps nothing quite on the level that is now being invested by Apollo Sports Capital (ASC), which is a US finance group.

Reynolds and Mac – previously known as McElhenney – completed their takeover in February 2021 with a £2m investment.

Reports in the USA prior to the ASC deal suggested the club was being valued at £350m.

For comparison, reports suggested the December 2024 takeover at Sheffield United valued them at around £100m.

“Getting cash from investors is simply a function of acknowledgement from the investors that Wrexham Football Club is worth an awful lot of money in the current market,” says Kieran Maguire.

“When they bought it for £2m, they bought at the market price at the time, and they deserve an awful lot of credit for growing the brand.

The value hinges on the profile and the potential for more growth.

The Welcome to Wrexham documentary, screened around the world, brings in no revenue but acts as a huge marketing tool.

It has allowed the side’s popularity to skyrocket among football fans in North America, with every Wrexham game screened live in the USA last season.

A tour to Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2025 brought sell-out crowds.

“Wrexham’s ability to generate money from commercial or sponsorship relationships with big hitters is very much part of the success story,” said Maguire.

“And it’s on the back of the success of Welcome to Wrexham, which is fantastic entertainment and independent of football.

“I think that’s where they have been very, very smart, that this is not a television programme about a football club, this is a television programme about people who happen to work with or support or have a stakeholder relationship with as far as the club is concerned.

Because the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules are about trying to make sure clubs are not losing unsustainable amounts of money.

Despite going on a summer spending spree, paying about £30m for players and having one of the highest net spends around, Wrexham are well within the financial parameters because of the commercial revenue already being brought in thanks to deals with giants such as United Airlines and HP.

In League Two, they were already bringing in more than 20 of the 24 Championship clubs.

“Under the PSR rules, you’re allowed to lose £39m over three years,” said Maguire. “Looking at their two most recent sets of accounts, Wrexham lost around about £23m – but they’ve had substantial increases in broadcast revenue, from about £1.2m in TV money in League Two to about £12m this season.”

That is before taking into account a significant jump in sponsorship and commercial income, with chief executive Michael Williamson estimating they are already on a par with some top-flight clubs.

“We have a global brand, a Premier League brand in the Championship,” Williamson told Ben Foster’s Fozcast podcast in August 2025.

“What we don’t have is the broadcast revenue of Premier League clubs or the parachute payments.

Initial investment from the Hollywood owners helped push the club out of the National League, but the majority of the money that allowed Wrexham to outspend rivals in League Two and League One came from commercial income.

The personal wealth of Reynolds and Mac might be surpassed by many of the owners in the Championship, let alone the Premier League.

New investment has given the club access to greater funds, but it does not mean a transfer spree is ahead.

Wrexham would potentially be in breach of profit and sustainability rules (PSR) if £48m was suddenly spent simply on squad strengthening.

Instead, it is being seen as a way of also bringing the club up to speed with outlay on infrastructure, academy and women’s set-up not counted in PSR.

There is also the ongoing work to the new Kop Stand as well as future plans for the club’s stadium, with aims to expand and increase hospitality options.

A new division would bring new rules – but also new riches.

“If Wrexham are promoted to the Premier League, then they will come under the umbrella of the new squad cost ratio, which effectively would allow Wrexham to only be allowed to spend 85% of their revenue on players,” said Maguire. “Because they’re coming from a fairly low base, Wrexham will have huge flexibility.

“They will also have commercial income which will – while probably still bottom half of the Premier League – still be higher than that of quite a few clubs.

“Their matchday income, given the capacity and the relative lack of hospitality boxes, won’t be particularly high, but their broadcast revenues will go from the £11m to £12m that they’re in receipt of this season to a minimum of £110m.

“I suspect it will be far higher than that because, from a broadcaster’s point of view, they will be an attractive proposition.

Sustainability has been the aim of both of the A-listers, with Reynolds talking of a “multi-decade plan” at the time of the takeover.

The growing revenues suggest they are on course.

The owners also remain open to further investment, given their celebrity status does not bring with it the wealth of owners at some Premier League clubs.

But Reynolds and Mac maintain a significant majority stake, which Maguire says is key given the brand is still dependent on the involvement of the pair.

“If we take a look at the recent investments in Wrexham from fairly senior, very forensic-orientated investment houses, I’m pretty sure that there would have been some form of golden handcuffs,” Maguire said.

“Would the likes of Apollo put money into Wrexham Football Club had they not had cast-iron guarantees from Reynolds and McElhenney that they will be there for X years? And X is likely to be a significant number.”

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank says French forward Randal Kolo Muani is “fine” after being involved in a “minor accident”.

Pictures circulated on social media on Tuesday showing the 27-year-old and Wilson Odobert standing next to a damaged Ferrari, although the Spurs winger was travelling in his own car and stopped to assist his team-mate.

The accident happened as the pair were on their way to the airport for the club’s trip to Germany and Wednesday’s final Champions League group phase match at Eintracht Frankfurt (20:00 GMT).

“It was a tyre blowing up, so, they are little bit delayed, but they will land later tonight,” he added.

Kolo Muani is on loan at Spurs from Paris St-Germain and has scored twice and assisted twice in Europe this season.

Frank “fully expects” both the frontman and Odobert to be available for the Frankfurt tie, where victory for his men will confirm a top-eight spot in the standings.

Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka says Tiger Woods was the first person he called to discuss a return to the PGA Tour after leaving LIV Golf.

Koepka joined the lucrative Saudi-Arabian-backed LIV series in 2022, but left in December with one year left on his contract.

The 35-year-old has since rejoined the PGA Tour under a new returning member programme and admitted he was “nervous” as he prepared for his first event back on the series at this week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

“I think the 23rd [of December] I was released and then called Tiger right away, then that process got the ball rolling,” said Koepka.

“I’ve always had a good relationship with Tiger. That was what I wanted to do once I had the opportunity to, I guess, get reinstated on the PGA Tour.

American Woods is a 15-time major winner and chairman of the PGA Tour’s Future Competitions Committee.

And Koepka added: “I didn’t know [the new PGA Tour commissioner] Brian [Rolapp], I didn’t have a relationship with him obviously just because he’s pretty new and Jay [Monahan, the previous incumbent] was going to be the next call.

“I felt like Tiger was somebody that I’ve relied on in the past for questions and answers and how to deal with things and I felt like that was maybe the most comfortable call for me.”

Married with a young son, the three-time PGA Championship winner and twice US Open champion said he was leaving LIV Golf to prioritise “the needs of his family”.

“I don’t regret anything I do,” added the Florida-born Koepka, who won nine PGA Tour events during his nine seasons on North America’s elite professional circuit.

“I’ve learned a lot. I’ve always enjoyed the ride no matter where I’m at.”

Speaking about making his return to Torrey Pines in California, he said: “Maybe I’m a little nervous about that as well, just to see, I guess, how the fans respond to it.

“I hope that they’re excited. I hope that they’re happy that I’m out here. You know, hopefully that goes, at least like the conversations I’ve had with players, that they’re excited that I’m back and happy to see me play.”

Rory McIlroy recently suggested Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour could mean the rival LIV Golf tour was in decline.

But the Northern Irishman has now added the decision could also have been motivated by the level of competition.

“He obviously is a very competitive person and wants to compete at the highest level,” said McIlroy, 36.

“I think he made the decision that he thought competing at the highest level meant coming back to the PGA Tour.

Chelsea have not won the Premier League since Antonio Conte led them to the 2016-17 title – and facing the Italian’s Napoli side on Wednesday brings that into sharp focus.

Conte’s triumph came in the season when Pep Guardiola began his reign as Manchester City boss.

It was Conte’s first campaign in England, too, and Chelsea enjoyed a club-record 13 consecutive league wins on their way to lifting the championship with 93 points.

Their fifth Premier League crown in 13 seasons matched Manchester United’s achievement in that same period. Chelsea – or indeed United – haven’t ruled the roost since, amid an extensive turnover of players and coaches.

Nine years down the line, we reach a dramatic finale to the Champions League’s opening phase. Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea need a win against Conte’s Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona to go directly into the last-16 stage. Their hosts – Serie A champions last season – must win to stay in the competition.

Like so many aspects of Chelsea’s recent history, you’d struggle to write this script.

Thomas Tuchel’s Champions League triumph in 2021 and two Club World Cup triumphs have been notable achievements since Conte’s departure.

But in strictly Premier League terms, the peak of Conte’s short stint at the wheel has not been repeated at Chelsea. They haven’t really come close.

Rosenior, 41, is the latest of seven head coaches, not including interim appointments, to have led Chelsea since Conte was sacked in July 2018. He has been in post for a matter of weeks.

Speaking about Conte on Tuesday in Naples, Rosenior said: “I have huge respect for him. Firstly as a player, he was a magnificent footballer. He then went on to – and still has – an incredible career as a coach.

“I think his passion as a player transmits to the passion in his teams and obviously when I was younger watching Chelsea play in the manner that they did, defensively so strong.

After winning the Premier League, Conte fell out with the Chelsea hierarchy under then-owner Roman Abramovich – a rift that sparked his season‑long downfall.

Chelsea missed out on several key transfer targets as Romelu Lukaku went to Manchester United, Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool and Kyle Walker to Manchester City.

Instead, they signed Tiemoue Bakayoko, Alvaro Morata, Davide Zappacosta and Danny Drinkwater, with only Antonio Rudiger proving a success among the club’s five major additions.

Conte’s second season marked the beginning of Chelsea’s transition into what many have described as a ‘cup team’, as they lifted the FA Cup.

Even when Chelsea won the title in 2017, Conte described his success as a “miracle” because it involved the “same players that the season before finished 10th.”

Despite having had an ill-fated spell at rivals Tottenham since his Stamford Bridge reign, Conte will be remembered fondly by Chelsea supporters and took a positive tone when recalling his two years at Stamford Bridge.

“It was a great experience,” Conte said on the eve of the reunion with his former club.

“We’re talking about a fantastic club with a great vision, a winning mentality and the same desire to win.”

Napoli also boast three former Chelsea players in Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne and Billy Gilmour, but all three are injured and expected to miss Wednesday’s match.

Napoli have faced Chelsea before – in a dramatic Champions League last‑16 tie in 2012.

This winter, the breakdown in relations between Enzo Maresca and Chelsea’s sporting directors and ownership felt eerily similar to the circumstances surrounding Conte’s departure.

Ultimately, Maresca’s position became untenable and he did not make it to the end of the season, with Rosenior replacing him.

In his first campaign, Maresca reduced the gap to the league leaders to 16 points, although Liverpool’s total of 84 was the lowest title‑winning tally since 2016.

However, instability has been Chelsea’s enduring problem when compared with standard‑setting clubs such as Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, who have dominated the Premier League in recent years.

All three have enjoyed continuity in the dugout and boardroom, a foundation that has helped to underpin sustained success.

Chelsea had hoped to build for the long term around Tuchel, who had close working relationships with director Marina Granovskaia and technical adviser Petr Cech, but UK government sanctions led to the end of the Abramovich‑era leadership.

When Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed their BlueCo takeover in 2022, they emphasised their ambition to win the Premier League. But relations soon soured with Tuchel, who appeared increasingly strained under the new ownership.

Graham Potter was then appointed, with the intention of replicating the team‑building models of Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp and Arsenal under Mikel Arteta, while drawing inspiration from Brighton’s recruitment strategy.

Yet Chelsea recruited too many players during the first season under new ownership, which created a chaotic dressing room environment that Potter could not manage. The club subsequently opted for a higher‑profile manager, appointing Mauricio Pochettino in 2024, but he did not align with their vision and was followed by the younger Maresca.

There remains widespread appreciation for Maresca’s work despite his acrimonious departure over a difference in vision with the ownership.

His successor, Rosenior, was promoted from within the BlueCo structure – having been head coach at partner club Strasbourg – in an effort to minimise mid‑season disruption, work within a structure that is built to focus on developing young players, and maintain a similar style of play to his predecessor.

Conte can look at Chelsea from a distance now, fascinated by how the approach has changed.

He said: “Every coach wants to sign young players, but if young players are over £100m like [Moises] Caicedo and [Enzo] Fernandez, it’s not for all clubs, especially in Italy. They are doing very well and are doing something important for the future.”

The club he led to glory nine seasons ago sit fifth in the Premier League and are 13 points behind leaders Arsenal with 15 matches remaining.

Manchester City – still led by Guardiola – are in the hunt.

The latest Deloitte Football Money League table placed Chelsea 10th of all European clubs, behind all five of their fellow ‘big six’ Premier League rivals.

Chelsea had been above Tottenham since 2024, but revenues of £506.85m now put them behind those clubs, with Aston Villa also closing the gap.

That financial picture can in part be attributed to Tottenham having a new 60,000‑seat stadium, which has significantly boosted their matchday and commercial income.

Chelsea have also needed to play catch‑up with clubs such as Manchester City and Manchester United in securing major sponsorship deals, having fallen behind during the later Abramovich years – and they remain without a front‑of‑shirt sponsor.

Chelsea’s hectic transfer activity, both incoming and outgoing, has added further complexity.

More than £1.5bn has been spent on signings since the 2022 takeover, while over £750m has been raised through player sales. That approach has been driven partly by the desire to rebuild the squad, but also by the need to manage lower revenues that limit spending power under financial regulations through constant player trading.

Rosenior’s goals are concentrated on what he can influence.

“The aim for us long term and in the short term as well is to compete for trophies,” he said.