It's out 😃
Mixed & mastered & laboured over by studio wizard, @paulcaseymusic, featuring sublime artwork by @rebeccafpainter,
and a stunning sample from @_LondonisLonely,
This is our new album, Every Architect of Ruin.
https://t.co/IBBV6su094
#irishmusic#indie
@BrianJustBrian Very good album. Love Navesink Banks, We Came to Dance and the closing track (can't remember the name of it). Still, The 59 Sound is miles better for me.
Liverpool FC is top of the table, but not of a league to be proud of.
A 4-2 pasting at the hands of Aston Villa on Friday night affirmed the Reds’ mediocre season on the pitch. But, according to campaigners, Liverpool is number one in complicity in the Gaza genocide.
War on Want have published a league table of Premier League clubs’ ties to Israeli actions in Palestine.
Liverpool are ahead of north London rivals Arsenal and Spurs in joint second place.
Man United and Man City are tied in third place while the fourth spot is shared by Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton and Fulham.
The league table is part of a report entitled Red Card: English Premier League Complicity in Israel’s Atrocities Against the Palestinians. The report says at least 15 Premier League sponsors have connections to the military assault on Gaza, the construction of illegal settlements and the wider system of apartheid.
Liverpool’s shirt sponsor, Standard Chartered, provided $15.4bn (£11.5bn) to 24 complicit businesses between January and August 2025.
The Premier League itself is sponsored by Barclays bank, which the report says has provided billions to 49 complicit companies.
Neil Sammonds, senior campaigner on Palestine at War on Want, said: “These clubs speak proudly about equality, inclusion and community. Yet behind the branding, some are using ‘sportswashing’ to sanitise corporations connected to some of the gravest crimes and humanitarian catastrophes of our time.
“Palestinian footballers are being killed. Stadiums are turned into detention camps. Child players are buried beneath rubble.
“The Premier League has shown before that it can act when sponsorship becomes morally toxic. The question is why Palestinian lives appear to count for less.”
There was a time when a European final belonged to the supporters who dragged their club there.
Not anymore.
When Aston Villa were handed roughly 11,000 tickets for a Europa League final in a 70,000-plus stadium, the number itself told the story. UEFA can package the event however it likes — “festival of football”, “European showpiece”, “global celebration” — but the modern European final is no longer built around supporters. It is built around clients.
The supporters fund the journey. The corporates inherit the destination.
Villa fans will have spent thousands following the club across Europe. Flights, hotels, time off work, loyalty schemes built over years. Yet when the final arrives, huge sections of the stadium are reserved for sponsors, hospitality guests, executives, delegates and “neutral” allocations that often end up on resale sites within hours.
And supporters are expected to accept it.
UEFA’s defence is familiar. Sponsors fund competitions. Broadcasters need space. Hospitality drives revenue. All true. But football crossed a line when the event surrounding the final became more important than the supporters inside it.
The optics are awful because fans can see it themselves.
A finalist gets 11,000 tickets while corporate packages costing thousands remain available. Genuine supporters scramble through ballots with lottery-like odds, while neutral areas fill with tourists taking photos during the warm-up.
And UEFA wonders why resentment grows.
Supporters are constantly called “the lifeblood of the game” until ticket allocations are discussed. Then they become an inconvenience to work around premium inventory.
Football did not become Europe’s dominant sport because sponsors created atmosphere. The noise, colour and emotion UEFA sells globally every season is generated by match-going supporters — the same people increasingly pushed aside at the biggest games.
The “neutral fan” concept is perhaps the biggest fiction of all. In theory it promotes access. In reality it fuels resale markets, inflated prices and thousands travelling ticketless out of desperation.
UEFA could change it tomorrow. Finalists could receive 70 per cent of the stadium combined. Corporate sections could shrink. Hospitality would still exist.
But that would mean sacrificing revenue.
And modern football has shown repeatedly which side wins that argument.
#AVFC #scfreiburg
No one asked for this. The players involved won’t want to do it, they’ll say absolutely nothing of interest, the fans just want to watch the game. Absolute nonsense.
🇮🇪🇳🇱 - Troy Parrott WINS the Dutch Cup with AZ, getting a goal and an assist in the final
The first trophy of his career
Massive congratulations Troy 🦜🏆
It’s been 33 years since this sublime Seeya Later at San Siro.
Roberto Baggio buries Billy Costacurta, bursts ahead of Baresi, then rounds Rossi as Juve win at Milan.
The Divine Ponytail. What sight to behold.
Brave interview here from Nicky Low speaking about a suicide attempt when he was with Derry City. He is cycling 120 miles and running the Edinburgh marathon to raise money for suicide prevention charity, The Anchor.
https://t.co/kllSNBMp2z
White: You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It's a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us. You will be victorious in all you put your hand to because God is using you.
@donhutch4 Italy were eliminated in the group stages in 2014 and the 2010 World Cup too. The problems seem to be at systematic level. They don't have the creativity up top that we used to see from Italy teams. They don't seem to bring enough young players through either.
@TheGeneralMH first time in Inverness since Machine Head tore up The Ironworks a few years ago. How come you guys picked Scotland for the warm up tour? You should definitely do this again 🤘
🗣️"The FAI could show a bit of balls and refuse to play Israel'
Brian Kerr explains why the FAI, for football reasons alone, should boycott the Nations League fixtures with Israel
Calls the Irish government stance 'complete boloney'
🎥 @VMSportIE
🗣 "[The FAI] could show a real bit of balls and refuse to play Israel."
🗣 "I think UEFA could back the FAI if they were strong enough on it."
Brian Kerr on the Republic of Ireland being drawn in the same group as Israel in the Nations League.
#VMSport
“It’s no secret what this club means to me. It was always the plan to come home. I can’t wait to get started.”
James McClean speaks for the first time after signing for Derry City.
Welcome home, Jimmy Mac ❤️