Category Sports News

Chelsea academy player and former Glenavon midfielder Chris Atherton has switched his international allegiance from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland.

Atherton made history during his time at the Lurgan Blues in September 2022 when he became the youngest senior footballer in the United Kingdom at 13 years and 329 days old.

The teenager has represented Northern Ireland at Under-16 and Under-17 level and scored one international goal.

Atherton moved from Glenavon to Chelsea’s academy in July 2025 before signing a professional contract in October and has been a regular in their U17 and U18 sides.

The 17-year-old, who joined Glenavon’s academy aged four, represented Northern Ireland as a youth ambassador at the announcement in Nyon for the UK and Ireland’s successful bid to host Euro 2028 in October 2023.

Speaking at the event, the then 14-year-old said he would “dream” of representing Northern Ireland at the finals of the competition and attending the announcement was a moment he would “remember forever”.

“Delighted for Christopher that this has finally went through,” his father Stephen wrote on X.

“Thanks to all the people at the FAI for their help and support during this process.”

With Atherton used as the ‘poster boy’ for the Euro 2028 campaign, this announcement could be considered a big blow for Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland have made huge strides in progressing their youth players with the JD Academy, but how much can they afford to lose some of the young prospects who looked like they would push through into the senior set-up?

Now, without Atherton, Northern Ireland have players such as Ceadach O’Neill at Arsenal, Michael Forbes, who is on loan from West Ham at Northampton, and George Feeney at Tottenham, across the water.

Atherton may try to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Sean Moore, who switched to the Republic of Ireland and has featured at under-21 level after playing for Northern Ireland U18s.

James McClean, Shane Duffy and Darron Gibson all went on to establish themselves with the Republic of Ireland after switching from Northern Ireland.

Chelsea academy player and former Glenavon midfielder Chris Atherton has switched his international allegiance from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland.

Atherton made history during his time at the Lurgan Blues in September 2022 when he became the youngest senior footballer in the United Kingdom at 13 years and 329 days old.

The teenager has represented Northern Ireland at Under-16 and Under-17 level and scored one international goal.

Atherton moved from Glenavon to Chelsea’s academy in July 2025 before signing a professional contract in October and has been a regular in their U17 and U18 sides.

The 17-year-old, who joined Glenavon’s academy aged four, represented Northern Ireland as a youth ambassador at the announcement in Nyon for the UK and Ireland’s successful bid to host Euro 2028 in October 2023.

Speaking at the event, the then 14-year-old said he would “dream” of representing Northern Ireland at the finals of the competition and attending the announcement was a moment he would “remember forever”.

“Delighted for Christopher that this has finally went through,” his father Stephen wrote on X.

“Thanks to all the people at the FAI for their help and support during this process.”

With Atherton used as the ‘poster boy’ for the Euro 2028 campaign, this announcement could be considered a big blow for Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland have made huge strides in progressing their youth players with the JD Academy, but how much can they afford to lose some of the young prospects who looked like they would push through into the senior set-up?

Now, without Atherton, Northern Ireland have players such as Ceadach O’Neill at Arsenal, Michael Forbes, who is on loan from West Ham at Northampton, and George Feeney at Tottenham, across the water.

Atherton may try to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Sean Moore, who switched to the Republic of Ireland and has featured at under-21 level after playing for Northern Ireland U18s.

James McClean, Shane Duffy and Darron Gibson all went on to establish themselves with the Republic of Ireland after switching from Northern Ireland.

Cristiano Ronaldo has become co-owner of Spanish second division side Almeria after acquiring a 25% share in the club.

The 41-year-old Al-Nassr forward has bought his stake in Almeria, who are owned by a Saudi Arabian investment consortium led by Mohammed Al-Khereiji, through his recently formed CR7 Sports Investments company.

While the financial details have not been disclosed, Ronaldo said in a statement he was looking forward to working with the leadership team “to support the next phase of the club’s growth”.

The Portugal international added: “It has been a long-held ambition of mine to contribute to football, beyond the pitch.

President Al-Khereiji said: “[Ronaldo] is regarded as the greatest to ever play the game, he knows the Spanish leagues very well and he understands the potential of what we are building here both in terms of the team and the academy.”

Last year, Al-Khereiji’s SMC Group acquired Almeria from Turki Al-Sheikh, who is chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), a Saudi government department.

Ronaldo spent nine successful years in Spain playing for Real Madrid, winning La Liga twice and lifting the Champions League four times before joining Italian side Juventus in 2018.

He has played for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League since 2022 and is the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m.

Phil Parkinson has urged his Wrexham players to appreciate the strong position the club is currently in as the Red Dragons remain in the hunt to secure a fourth successive promotion.

Parkinson’s men have claimed 26 points from their 12 league matches since Christmas, more than any other side in the division.

It means they sit sixth in the Championship with a four-point buffer over seventh-place Southampton before Saturday’s trip to Charlton Athletic (15:00 GMT).

“I think mental freshness is key, getting that right, getting the rotation as well and the physical and mental freshness is really key at this stage of the season.

“I think really appreciating where we are this season in terms of in the Championship, in the top six and just making sure we really enjoy that feeling of being in this situation.

Wrexham are unbeaten in their past five away league matches – with only five teams averaging more than the Red Dragons’ total of 1.5 points per game on the road in the Championship so far this season.

And Parkinson hopes his side can go into their mouth-watering FA Cup fifth round contest with Chelsea at Stok Cae Ras on Saturday, 7 March (17:45 GMT) on the back of three successive league victories.

“We’re in good form and we go there (to Charlton) with a huge challenge on our hands to go into the FA Cup weekend in good league form,” added Parkinson.

Following his side’s 2-1 win against Portsmouth, Parkinson revealed that strikers Kieffer Moore and Sam Smith – who netted the opener against Pompey – were among those who had been struggling with illness.

But the Wrexham manager says he has no new concerns ahead of the contest with Nathan Jones’ Addicks.

“Yeah, one or two others as well (had been ill), but they’re all back in this morning. We were all off yesterday and back in today,” said Parkinson.

“It’s about getting the ones who didn’t play the right level of training, the ones who did play a second day of recovery and picking the team tomorrow to go and put a performance down at Charlton.”

January signing Zak Vyner was unavailable for the first three matches after joining Wrexham from Bristol City due to a toe injury.

The 28-year-old featured as a substitute in each of the league wins against Ipswich Town and Portsmouth in the past week and is now in a position to be used when called upon.

“Zak’s fine,” said Parkinson.

Real Madrid have launched an investigation after a supporter allegedly performed a Nazi salute before the club’s Champions League win against Benfica on Wednesday.

Prior to the kick-off at the Bernabeu, a fan appeared to make the fascist gesture as the television cameras panned around the 83,000-seater stadium.

The fan was identified by security staff moments later and ejected from the ground.

Real beat Portuguese side Benfica 2-1 in the second leg of their knockout round play-off tie to progress 3-1 on aggregate to the last 16 of the Champions League.

In a statement, the Spanish club said they have asked its disciplinary committee “to initiate an immediate expulsion procedure” for the fan.

The incident comes after Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr alleged he was racially abused by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni during the first leg in Lisbon.

The 25-year-old Brazilian, who scored the only goal of the game, informed the referee he had been racially abused by Prestianni and the game was halted for 10 minutes after he and his Madrid team-mates left the pitch.

Argentine winger Prestianni was subsequently handed a provisional one-match ban and missed the second leg after Uefa rejected Benfica’s appeal against his suspension. He could still face further punishment, pending the result of a full Uefa investigation.

Vinicius, who scored Madrid’s winner on 80 minutes, received support by the home fans as a banner with the words “no to racism” in Spanish was displayed in the stands before kick-off.

New Zealand’s leading try-scorer Portia Woodman-Wickliffe has announced her retirement from international rugby for a second time.

The 34-year-old winger helped the Black Ferns win the Women’s World Cup in 2017 and 2022, and initially retired after claiming a second rugby sevens gold at the 2024 Olympics.

She returned for last year’s World Cup in England, but her bid for a third-straight title was halted in the semi-finals by Canada – before New Zealand beat France to finish third.

Woodman-Wickliffe was already the record try-scorer in World Cup history and stretched her tally to 22 with two tries in England.

Her score in the pool win over Japan was her 50th international try and meant she surpassed Doug Howlett to become New Zealand’s outright record try-scorer.

The two-time World Rugby women’s player of the year will retire from both international sevens and XVs rugby.

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to represent my country, my [people], one last time on the World Cup stage, a moment I will cherish forever,” she said in a message on social media.