Category Sports News

In contrast to the women’s nations league promotion/relegation play-offs where the Republic of Ireland was drawn against Belgium, Iceland will face Northern Ireland.

After being beaten out of the top spot in Group B2, the Republic of Ireland is currently in play-offs, and Northern Ireland are hoping to reclaim their position after finishing second to Poland in Group B1.

Iceland, who finished third in Group A2, will take on the Republic of Ireland in their opening match against Belgium in Northern Ireland.

This will be a challenging task for us, but one that we are eager to take on, according to Republic of Ireland head coach Carla Ward, who knows Belgium are a very good team with a strong history in women’s football.

We are “building day by day, game by game,” according to the statement from our five of our six Nations League group victories, which came to an end with a strong performance against Slovenia.

In the other two games, Austria will face Finland, while the Czech Republic will face Denmark.

Further details are yet to be confirmed regarding the fixtures’ availability for October.

The two-legged play-off winners will compete in League A of the 2027 Women’s World Cup qualifiers, while League B will host the losers.

Germany faced off against France in the finals, which will feature this year’s four League A group winners, while world champions Spain will face Sweden in the two-legged semi-final on October 24 and 28.

Calum Wilson and Newcastle United are in talks about extending his stay at St James’ Park.

The 33-year-old striker was scheduled to leave the club this summer, but Newcastle have confirmed that new contract negotiations are raging.

Wilson left Bournemouth for about £20 million in 2020 and has made 130 appearances for the club.

In all competitions, he has scored 49 goals for Tyneside during his five years without being injured.

Wilson made just 18 Premier League appearances as a result of his back and hamstring injuries last year.

Jamal Lewis leaving the club after his contract expires, according to the club’s released list of retained members for the 2025/26 season on Friday.

The loan agreement to Juventus has been made permanent, and it will be completed on June 30 for an undisclosed fee.

Mark Gillespie’s contract, which has the option to extend it, has been exercised for the entire first-team players.

Calum Wilson and Newcastle United are in talks about extending his stay at St James’ Park.

The 33-year-old striker was scheduled to leave the club this summer, but Newcastle have confirmed that new contract negotiations are raging.

Wilson left Bournemouth for about £20 million in 2020 and has made 130 appearances for the club.

In all competitions, he has scored 49 goals for Tyneside during his five years without being injured.

Wilson made just 18 Premier League appearances as a result of his back and hamstring injuries last year.

Jamal Lewis leaving the club after his contract expires, according to the club’s released list of retained members for the 2025/26 season on Friday.

The loan agreement to Juventus has been made permanent, and it will be completed on June 30 for an undisclosed fee.

Mark Gillespie’s contract, which has the option to extend it, has been exercised for the entire first-team players.

International friendly: Scotland v Iceland

Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Friday, 6 June Kick-off: 19: 45 BST

It has been a year since a striker scored for Scotland.

Lawrence Shankland’s goal in a 2-2 draw with Finland before the European Championships was the last time a front man rippled the net for the national side.

In a competitive match, you have to go back to Shankland’s stoppage-time equaliser against Georgia in qualifying for the Euros in November 2023.

For the most part, it has not mattered.

Head coach Steve Clarke has managed to craft a way of playing throughout his tenure which has led to qualification for two major tournaments and, until their recent relegation, a rise to Nations League A.

That formula has allowed midfield duo Scott McTominay and John McGinn to thrive and grab the majority of the goals, with others chipping in at key times.

Of the current group, Che Adams is the player with the most experience. He has played 37 times for Scotland since Clarke gave him his debut in 2021.

Having had a profitable first season in Serie A with Torino, scoring 10 goals, and the fact he can use his physical attributes to hold play up and allow the likes of McTominay and McGinn to get up the pitch, mean he is trusted with the jersey.

However, the former Southampton man has managed just six Scotland goals.

Five of them have come against the Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Moldova and Gibraltar, two of them winning goals. The last of them was against the Gibraltarians last June in a friendly.

Nonetheless, Adams has been a key player for Clarke – and that looks set to continue.

“To go out there and score 10 goals as a striker in Serie A is not easy – certainly at that level of club”, Clarke said.

“He’s come in, he’s finished, he’s been absolutely outstanding in training. Hopefully he can do that over the next two games as well and get a few goals for his country.

Middlesbrough’s Tommy Conway and Ipswich Town’s George Hirst are two of the other strikers in the squad who will be desperate for an opportunity.

Hirst scored five goals in an injury-hit spell in the Premier League and was often an impact player behind new Chelsea signing Liam Delap in the pecking order at relegated Ipswich.

Tall and another powerful runner, he is the type of profile Clarke likes.

He ranks favourably across the top five leagues in Europe this season for aerial duels won per 90 minutes, according to website Fbref.

His manager at Ipswich, Kieran McKenna, also believes the best is yet to come from the 26-year-old, who he said was a big miss for his side when out this season.

” That profile of striker – tall, gangly, in their mid-20s – those strikers, they tend to develop a little bit later at times, “McKenna said.

” Often you look at some of the ones who’ve gone on to do really well – at 24, 25, they’re certainly not where they are at 28, 29, 30.

“I think he’s got a good chance to keep developing, he’s maturing well and it was a really good moment for him”.

Conway, at 22, also has the potential to grow. Yet he has already played more than 100 games in the Championship, arguably the most gruelling league in Europe.

At the beginning of the season, he was second choice at Boro after his switch from Bristol City.

However, following Emmanuel Latte Lath’s sale in January, he stepped in and ended the campaign with 13 goals.

Only four players scored more in the division. Of the players to score 13 or more, Conway had the best shot accuracy and was third for shot conversion rate.

Clarke has called up 18-year-old James Wilson and 22-year-old Keiron Bowie for the friendlies against Iceland and Liechtenstein as well.

Both have had good seasons with Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian, respectively, albeit Bowie’s campaign was disrupted by a hamstring injury.

At around 6ft 3ins tall and four years older than Wilson, Bowie has the stature and strong running that makes him a fit for international football – and this Scotland side.

He also boasts the best shot conversion rate of the two in the Premiership and took all five of what data company Opta calls ‘ Big Chances ‘ on offer to him.

It hints that Bowie could be a player with the clinical edge Scotland need.

The big caveat is he only started five of his 18 league matches for Hibs, and saved his best performances as a substitute, scoring five of his six goals from the bench.

Meanwhile, Wilson started 18 of his 24 Premiership games and scored five goals.

He played alongside Shankland and – in the second half of the campaign – Elton Kabangu as well.

Used a lot to try to stretch the play for a Hearts team that lacked pace and width, the teenager is still at a very early stage in his career, but he has still earned praise for his maturity.

“His movement is really top class in and around the box”, Wilson’s new head coach, Derek McInnes, said.

Having become the youngest Scotland international when he came on against Greece in March, Wilson played for the under-21s against Slovakia last month and is likely viewed as one for the future.

Bobby Wales, who earned a move to Swansea City after a breakthrough year at Kilmarnock, is in the same category.

Fellow Scottish Premiership forwards Shankland and Kevin Nisbet are at the other end of the scale, having been left out of the squad for these friendlies.

Clarke already knows what they can bring.

Nisbet was the most prolific this season, scoring 11 times for Aberdeen in the league as he regained form and fitness on loan from Millwall, while Shankland grabbed eight.

However, even when Shankland was in red-hot form last season and hitting 30 goals, he was not Clarke’s first-choice striker, having made just one competitive start for his country.

Of all the striking options Clarke has, there is no standout player above the rest.

But does it really matter if the strikers are not scoring? Clarke himself is not too fussed, given what he says the central forward is in his team to do.

“I’m a little bit selfish when it comes to my strikers because I make them play a certain way that they link the team and bring the midfield players into the final third of the pitch”, he said.

“In terms of scoring goals, you can say they don’t always get enough goals, but for me, they make a major contribution in other areas that allow people like John McGinn, Scott McTominay to join in from the midfield and get the goals that way.

” Hopefully somebody like Lewis Ferguson, if he gets the chance to play, can also add goals because Lewis is another player that can arrive in the box and score goals. I wouldn’t be too harsh on my strikers. “

Others might disagree, but it is hard to argue that Clarke’s approach has not worked.

McTominay has scored 11 goals since the beginning of 2023 and is in the form of his life. McGinn is closing in on the all-time Scotland record of 30 goals with 20 in 75 caps.

As long as that continues, Clarke will be content.

Scottie Scheffler, the world’s number one, has confirmed that he will compete in the Scottish Open this year from July 10 through July 13 at the East Lothian resort.

The top five players in the world rankings, along with seven of the top 10, will use the tournament as their final week of preparation for the tournament’s follow-up event, which will take place in Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland, on Wednesday.

One of the strongest Scottish Open fields ever will now be home for American Scheffler, who continued to impress with a strong season on Sunday when he successfully defended his title there.

After finishing in third place on his last appearance at the Renaissance Club in 2023, the 28-year-old makes his return to the Scottish Open.

In East Lothian, the three-time major winner will compete alongside fellow Americans Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Thomas, as well as world number two Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland, Sepp Straka from Austria, and Ludvig Aberg from Sweden.

All three of McIlroy, Schauffele, and Robert MacIntyre from Scotland will participate, according to McIlroy.

Since Colin Montgomerie won the trophy at Loch Lomond in 1999, MacIntyre became the first Scot to do so last year.

Crystal Palace are expected to have to wait until the end of the month to find out if they are able to play in the 2025-26 Europa League, according to sources with knowledge of the process.

The Eagles hierarchy travelled to Switzerland on Tuesday to discuss with Uefa officials about their participation in the competition.

Uefa rules forbid individuals from having control of more than one club in the same competition to avoid conflicts of interest.

Eagle Football – the multi-club group owned by John Textor which includes a minority shareholding in Palace – owns a majority stake in Ligue 1 side Lyon, who have also qualified for next season’s competition.

Palace are arguing that Textor – who has repeatedly tried to sell his stake with the club – does not have decisive control.

League places are used to determine who gets to play in the competition and given the French side finished sixth, they get priority over Palace, who ended 12th in the Premier League.

Palace qualified for the Europa League by beating Manchester City to win the FA Cup.

Lyon finished sixth in the French top flight to initially gain a spot in the Conference League, but were promoted to the Europa League competition after Paris St-Germain – already qualified for the Champions League – won the Coupe de France.

Through Eagle Football, Textor – who initially invested £90m into Crystal Palace in 2021 – owns around 45% of the club and 90% of Lyon.

The American was appointed a director and joined co-owner Steve Parish, Josh Harris and David Blitzer on the board.

In January 2022, he invested in Brazilian club Botafogo and Belgian side RWD Molenbeek. Eagle Football still has controlling interests in both sides.

He became the owner of Lyon in June 2022.

Because Eagle Football has only has a 45% stake in Palace, the club is not part of the group’s multi-club organisation. Palace have not signed a player from any of those clubs, although Jake O’Brien, now at Everton, did move to Lyon from their academy.

Textor has tried to purchase a controlling stake in Palace in the past because it is thought he would prefer to have overall control of the club.

However, he has more recently tried to buy Everton and also sought a buyer for his Palace shares.

In an interview with the BBC last year, he said he does not run Palace – chairman and co-owner Parish does – although he can share his views.

He also conceded the pair disagree on their views over multi-club ownership.

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis recently diluted his control at the club by placing his shares in a blind trust, when it looked like both Forest and Olympiakos – another club the Greek businessman owned – may both qualify for the Champions League.

But sources close to Eagle Football believe putting those Palace shares in a ‘blind trust’ is not an option because Textor and Eagle Football do not have decisive influence over the Selhurst Park outfit.