Northern

Northern Ireland captain and Birmingham City striker Simone Magill has announced she is pregnant.

The 31-year-old shared the news with her Birmingham team-mates on Wednesday and announced it on social media along with her husband, Mark.

“Something tells me next year is going to be the best one yet,” Magill posted on Instagram.

Magill will not feature for Birmingham for the rest of the season or for Northern Ireland in the 2027 World Cup qualifiers, which begin in March.

WSL2 club Birmingham City say Magill will continue “light training” with the team and that the club’s medical and performance staff will support her “throughout her pregnancy and beyond”.

Amy Merricks, Magill’s head coach at Birmingham, said she would “make an amazing parent”.

“We’re looking forward to supporting her on this journey through her pregnancy and as her baby comes into the world, we’re excited to have a Bluenose baby,” Merricks said.

“We want to keep Si in and around the environment as much as possible.

“She wants to remain sharp and play a critical part in this season and we’re looking forward to supporting her with her journey.”

Magill missed Northern Ireland’s Nations League play-off defeat by Iceland at the end of October and last played for Birmingham in September because of a hip issue.

She won the first of her 95 NI caps as a teenager in 2010 and was named captain by Tanya Oxtoby in October 2024.

Magill played a key role in Northern Ireland’s qualification for Euro 2022 – her country’s first major tournament – but sustained a knee injury in the first match against Norway.

England have been drawn with Spain in their qualifying group for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

Spain beat the Lionesses in the 2023 World Cup final, but England gained revenge when they beat the world champions in the Euro 2025 final in July to retain their European title.

Iceland and Ukraine have also been placed in Group A3 alongside Sarina Wiegman’s side.

Qualifying for the World Cup, which will be held in Brazil, follows the same format as the Nations League and is split into three tiers.

Only the four group winners in League A will automatically qualify for the finals, with the remaining teams having to go through the play-offs for the remaining eight places.

Scotland have been paired with Belgium, Israel and Luxembourg in Group B4, while Wales will face the Czech Republic, Albania and Montenegro in Group B1.

Northern Ireland have been placed in Group B2 with Switzerland, Turkey and Malta, and the Republic of Ireland are in Group A2 alongside the Netherlands, France and Poland.

The qualifiers will be played across six matchdays, on a home and away basis, during 2026, starting on 3 March and finishing on 9 June.

Uefa has been allocated 11 places for the 32-team 2027 World Cup.

An additional European team could also qualify through Fifa’s intercontinental play-offs.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake has shaken northern Afghanistan, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 500, a health official says, adding that the numbers could increase.

The quake’s epicentre on Monday was located 22km (14 miles) west-southwest of the town of Khulm, and it struck at 12:59am (20:29 GMT on Sunday) at a depth of 28km (17 miles), the United States Geological Survey said.

Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, said 534 injured people and 20 bodies had been brought to hospitals in Balkh and Samangan provinces. Rescuers were on the scene and the figures were changing, he added.

In the nearby province of Badakhshan, the quake damaged or destroyed 800 houses in one village in the Shahr-e-Bozorg district, said Ihsanullah Kamgar, spokesperson for the provincial police headquarters.

However, due to a lack of internet service in the remote area, there were still no accurate casualty figures, he added.

Yousaf Hammad, a spokesperson for the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, said most of the injured suffered minor wounds and were discharged after treatment.

In the Afghan capital, Kabul, the Ministry of Defence announced that rescue and emergency teams had reached the quake-affected areas in Balkh and Samangan, which suffered the most damage, and were transporting the injured and assisting others.

The Defence Ministry said a rockslide briefly blocked a main mountain highway linking Kabul with Mazar-i-Sharif but the road was later reopened. It said some people who had been injured and trapped along the highway were transported to hospital.

The NI squad she has returned to is markedly different to the one she was last included in a year and a half ago, given the influx of younger players.

That was necessitated by the retirements of Marissa Callaghan, Rachel Furness and Rachel Dugdale.

The only centurion in the current panel, McFadden knew her biggest selling point for getting back into the squad at this later stage of her career was the experience she has, and she hopes to pass on wisdom gained from over 20 years of playing to the younger generation.

“That is what I was saying when I was pleading my case to Tanya. I’ve always got that [experience], even if I’m not fit, I will always do the best for Northern Ireland and our group,” she added.

“I hope I’ve helped them this week, especially Abi Sweetlove. She’s at the start of her career, she’s unbelievable centre-half, she’s the future and hopefully I’ll be able to help her along because I have done it many a time and someone helped me along, so I want to help them.”

So, up next for McFadden and NI is building on a positive second-half display in Ballymena as they go to Reykjavik on Tuesday aiming to overturn the two-goal deficit.

The odds are against Oxtoby’s side given they failed to have a shot on target in the first leg, but McFadden still thinks they have an opportunity if they go there confident.

“We need a little bit more belief. We were able to get in their final third a bit more second half and with the belief, we have a chance.

“If we score early, they’re the big fish with the pressure on and hopefully we get a performance again.”

The people queueing for the Eurostar at London St Pancras station, rushing in from the rain in hoodies, look noticeably less enthusiastic than the usual holiday crowds. But then, we aren’t heading to the usual hot, heady holiday destinations of Spain or the south of France, but boarding a train to north-east Europe. For me, it will be a journey of more than 1,000 miles – via Amsterdam, Berlin and Warsaw to Vilnius – visiting some of the coolest capitals in the north. At least in terms of temperature.

As England sweltered this summer, and Spain reached a hellish 46C, it made sense to head away from the heat on what is now fashionably being called a “coolcation”. I left in August, with a suitcase full of jumpers.

There is something irresistibly romantic about long train trips, watching the geography unfold outside the window. I leave London for Amsterdam on the Eurostar, eating a pain au chocolat as we speed through rural French flatlands and glide past red-roofed Belgian farmhouses, and then the distinctive, tall art nouveau buildings of the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, I switch trains to the Deutsche Bahn, grabbing a packet of Stroopwafel and jumping on board alongside cool Dutch kids with asymmetric hair. I know we have entered Germany when I spot a VW factory, and the graffiti becomes better – and more profuse.

As for my coolcation, it feels burning hot when I arrive in Berlin, emerging from the glass and steel Hauptbahnhof into a summer evening where hipsters on deckchairs are drinking cocktails at Capital Beach on the Spree River.

The next morning, I stroll through the lush Tiergarten past men in black leathers chugging in the Biergarten; through the shadowy blocks of the Holocaust memorial; under the intimidating Brandenburg Gate. I’m heading to Alexanderplatz – where teenagers congregate under the TV tower – and I’m ruminating on how eastern European cities have a harsher aesthetic than those in the soft south. The remnants of the Soviet era echo in the hardness of the culture, in the brutalist architecture I’m passing, and then suddenly as pounding techno surrounds me. Marching down Unter Den Linden, I find myself caught in a procession of floats surrounded by people wearing all black, looking like they’re heading to Berghain nightclub.

My next train, from Berlin to Warsaw, is the IC Intercity link. It’s a Polish train, on which the carriages are split into comfortable six-person compartments. In one of these I sit opposite a boy with a mohawk eating paprika crisps, and I watch the city turn to pine forests of pale thin trees.

Train journeys mimic cruises – you hop on and off in different cities (ideal for my ADHD) and, in between, lounge around eating too much. It’s a five-hour journey from Berlin to Warsaw, and when gazing at farmland becomes monotonous, the restaurant carriage offers distraction. I order Kotlet schabowy (€10.50), and a delicious plate of breaded pork chop, cucumber salad and floury boiled potatoes appears, which I eat surrounded by men with blond buzzcuts drinking Żywiec beers.

It’s startling to emerge from the bunker of Warsaw Central station to a horizon of glass skyscrapers reflecting the deep red sky.

The next day, I discover Warsaw – a captivating juxtaposition of history and modernity. In the Old Town, I eat pierogi beside Marie Curie’s house, then explore cobbled streets with bright rows of coloured medieval buildings, which were bombed during the second world war but have been so faithfully reconstructed they have earned Unesco status. Their Disneyland-esque quality is only lessened by the artillery pockmarks.

Elsewhere, austere Soviet buildings have morphed into hipster cafes with oak counters and earthenware cups. BarStudio, below the Stalin-era Palace of Culture and Science – now reclaimed as a tourist attraction with an observation deck – runs silent-disco nights and serves matcha crepes from a menu decorated ironically with communist-era cartoons.

Taking a train is far easier than flying – there’s no negotiating airport security or check-in – and soon I become dangerously casual, running and hopping onboard with a picnic of local foods.

We roll out of Warsaw and I sit munching Kopernik iced gingerbread biscuits as we pass endless farmland, the occasional dilapidated dacha, factories and small towns of Identikit modern houses in grids. Today’s journey to Vilnius will take nine hours, so it’s a relief when at Mockava, on the Lithuanian border, we are ejected on to a remote platform in a sunny forest. I stand sweltering in 26C heat, wondering why I packed so many jumpers.

The black, double-height Lithuanian train is open-plan, modern, slick and packed full of heaving bike racks, but the dining options are disappointingly limited. I eat a sad toasted-cheese sandwich as we glide through more farmland and forests.

Vilnius, although the most eastern city I’m travelling to, feels the most western in style. Its baroque buildings – including cathedrals that survived the Soviets and have earned it Unesco status – blend into art nouveau architecture. Even former communist blocks here are painted in soft pastels, and wide boulevards (a USSR endeavour) open up a lush city. Elsewhere, meandering cobbled streets offer up cafes and pretty boutiques.

The further east you go, the cheaper things get: coffees that cost €5 in Berlin and €3 in Warsaw are €2 here. But the enthusiasm for capitalism is evident in the number of luxury Lithuanian boutiques and western brands such as H&M and Mango, and a growing tech industry: Vinted is based here. Užupis, the bohemian quarter – where art exhibitions and Banksy-style graffiti adorn the streets – has its own logo: a blue hand with a hole in the middle. My guide says it shows that money falls through in an enticement to spend, spend, spend, but Užupis’s own tourism minister, Kestas Lukoskinas, has said: “The main thing is we have nothing to hide in our hands.”

Still, the heart and backbone of Vilnius is creative, a scene both historic and constantly reinvented. On Literatų gatvė (Literature Street) in Vilnius Old Town, individual wall plaques celebrate writers associated with the city, including Adam Mickiewicz, who lived on the street, Joseph Brodsky and Romain Gary.

The Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, where tickets start at a very reasonable £15, is matched as a cultural attraction by Lukiškės Prison 2.0 – a Soviet jail shut in 2019 and now reinvented as a creative space, with cells turned into studios and stages hosting trendy bands such as Aurora and Fontaines DC. At Mo Museum, a modern Lithuanian art gallery established by scientists and philanthropists Danguolė and Viktoras Butkus – and one of the first large-scale private collections of its kind since independence – the current exhibition, GamePlay, explores the creative impact of video games.

Although I try classic Lithuanian cuisine – cepelinai (stodgy potato dumplings filled with ground meat), and pink soup (borscht with kefir) – I’m excited to find a burgeoning Michelin restaurant scene. At Ertlio Namas, a nine-course tasting menu is an affordable €70, with traditional dishes reinterpreted with modern spin: salted ide fish with jelly, bread soup with beer-braised beef, and buckwheat babka come as delicious exquisite morsels.

Vilnius repeats Soviet motifs now familiar on my journey: brutalist architecture; cool young people in all black and boots; and the compulsory revamped TV tower, where you can climb to the 67th floor and take a horrifyingly scary walk on a handrail-free ledge, attached only by a rope.

The journey home feels faster; the west softer, even though the train is delayed by five hours (so much for German efficiency). I wander Amsterdam hazily, the harsh and uniform brutalism replaced by the uniquely elegant canal houses and oily Van Goghs – yet I’m surprised, among the clatter and chaos, to miss the calm, clean order of the eastern European cities. I arrive back from my hot coolcation, in England – where it is raining.

The trip was provided by Go Vilnius and the Polish National Tourist . In Berlin, Hotel Zoo has doubles from £110 a nigh. . Rail journey: London-Amsterdam-London on Eurostar €339; Amsterdam-Berlin on NS International €108.99; Berlin-Warsaw on Deutsche Bahn €53.99; Warsaw-Vilnius-Warsaw LTG Link Train €50; Warsaw- Amsterdam Deutsche Bahn €165.49

Video shows towering construction cranes being brought down by a tornado in northern France, where at least one person was killed and several were injured.

More than 218,000 people voted in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) leadership election that could shape the island’s political direction.

Opposition candidate Tufan Erhurman has won the presidential election in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), decisively defeating incumbent Ersin Tatar, the Turkish Cypriot High Electoral Council has announced.

Erhurman, chairman of the centre-left Republican Turkish Party (CTP), secured 62.76 percent of the vote, compared with 35.81 percent for Tatar in Sunday’s election.

“There are no losers in this election. We, the Turkish Cypriot people, have won together,” Erhurman said after the announcement.

“I will exercise my responsibilities, particularly in matters of foreign policy, in consultation with the Republic of Turkiye. Let no one worry,” he added, referring to Ankara’s longstanding interest in Northern Cyprus.

Tatar, 65, was supported by the Turkish government and advocates a two-state solution for Cyprus. Erhurman, 55, a lawyer born in Nicosia and educated at the University of Ankara, has said he intends to restart negotiations with Greek Cypriots aimed at a federal reunification of the island. He previously took part in talks under former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat between 2008 and 2010 and served as TRNC prime minister from February 2018 to May 2019.

Northern Cyprus occupies less than a third of the Mediterranean island and is recognised only by Turkiye, which maintains more than 35,000 peacekeepers in the region.

Divided island

Cyprus was divided in 1974 after a coup in the south aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Turkish Cypriots declared independence in 1983, nine years after Turkiye’s military intervention following a brief Greek-backed coup which threatened the island’s Turkish community.

Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only the Greek Cypriot south – home to the internationally recognised government – enjoys full EU membership benefits. Many Turkish Cypriots hold EU-recognised Cyprus passports while residing in the north.

Greek Cypriots reject the two-state proposal, which they see as incompatible with the United Nations and EU-endorsed framework for a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation.

There are around 218,000 registered voters in Northern Cyprus. Polls closed at 15:00 GMT on Sunday, and vote counting took place under the supervision of the TRNC Supreme Election Board at centres across the territory.

Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides congratulated Erhurman on his victory, reaffirming his commitment to resuming negotiations with Turkish Cypriot leaders.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also congratulated Erhurman in a post on social media, adding that Turkiye would “continue to defend the rights and sovereign interests” of the breakaway territory.

Manager Michael O’Neill felt had Northern Ireland beaten Germany at Windsor Park in World Cup qualifying on Monday night that they would have been in a “strong position to achieve something amazing”.

It was not to be with Nick Woltemade’s somewhat fortuitous goal the difference between the two sides in Belfast.

When the dust settles on a window during which his young side also beat Slovakia 2-0 on Friday, O’Neill will surely feel encouraged that such a possibility remains on the table as he seeks to take the side to the game’s biggest stage for the first time in four decades.

For the second time in five weeks, Northern Ireland’s players left the field against the four-time World Cup winners believing they could and perhaps should have taken something from the game.

In Cologne last month, it took until after the 70th minute before the visitors tired and quick-fire goals from Nadiem Amiri and Florian Wirtz secured an unconvincing 3-1 win.

Back in Belfast on Monday night, it was Northern Ireland who finished the stronger of the sides, but they could not find an equaliser during a final 25 minutes played largely in Germany’s third of the pitch.

The result ends any realistic chance of O’Neill’s side topping Group A, but the performance, allied with wins in their other two matches to date, means they can have real belief that they can both make and then succeed in the play-offs.

A draw in next month’s seemingly crunch fixture in Slovakia followed by a win over Luxembourg, provided as O’Neill put it “Germany take care of business at home when they play Slovakia” in the final matchday, would be enough for second place.

Even should that not come to pass, there remains a likely backdoor into the play-offs as an otherwise unqualified group winner from last year’s Nations League, although that would potentially mean a considerably stronger opponent in an away semi-final.

“We’ve gained some momentum and picked up some good results,” said defender Paddy McNair, one of two players in O’Neill’s current squad who played for Northern Ireland in their last major tournament at Euro 2016.

“If I was the opposition, I would not like to face us in the play-offs.

“It’s pretty hard to finish first now, but I think we have to get to Slovakia and get three points and you just never know what could happen going into the last game.”

Thousands of displaced Palestinians have been returning to northern Gaza following the ceasefire, only to find their homes reduced to rubble.

Despite the loss, and his frustration, O’Neill still had time for a joke with a member of the German media.

“Having looked at the stats, ironically Germany played more long balls than us in the game,” he said.

For his part, Julian Nagelsmann, whose comments after the reverse fixture in Cologne prompted O’Neill’s quip, was relieved to get through a “tough” game.

“The second half was all about defending,” Nagelsmann told BBC Sport.

“As I said before the game it was a really tough opponent, a lot of long balls and they fight and we had to fight as well.

“It was a good step in the right direction to beat a team like Northern Ireland and to fight for second balls and be as tough as the opponent.”

Top spot in Group A is now a long shot given Germany have put their grasp on automatic qualification.

But second place and a guaranteed play-off is still on the cards ahead of November’s two qualifiers in Slovakia and home to bottom side Luxembourg.

It may not be much consolation now, but a play-off as one of four Nations League group winners seems to be a more secure fall back given other results across Europe, if Northern Ireland were to miss out on the top two.

So, after battling but falling short against one of Europe’s giants, this young Northern Ireland side may be down, but they are definitely not out.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud and Ibrahim al Khalili followed Palestinians making their way back to northern Gaza after a ceasefire deal was announced.

Now, the side face the prospect of taking on the group favourites without their best player.

Bradley, who has also been booked three times in five Premier League appearances this term, was shown his second yellow card of the qualifying campaign in the 76th minute for a tackle on Lukas Haraslin.

O’Neill described the decision as “extremely disappointing” and felt his player had tried to pull out of the challenge.

“There were worse tackles in the game and one just before that was particularly poor on Isaac Price that the referee let go,” he said. “To produce a yellow card for that was disappointing.”

Speaking on BBC Sport NI, former Northern Ireland and Leeds United defender Stuart Dallas said Bradley had given “the referee a decision to make” but agreed with his old international boss that the decision ultimately was harsh.

If not for the resulting suspension, it would have been a mere footnote in an otherwise excellent performance.

Bradley was one of four players in the starting XI who went into the game knowing a booking would rule them out of Monday’s game, but Hume said they do not wish to curb his aggressive edge.

“We spoke before the game about the boys who were on yellows trying not to get one, but it’s one of those things,” he explained.

“You can’t go into a game trying not to get booked. You’ve got to play to your strengths.

“He’s full throttle. He’s 100% all the time.”

Since making his full Premier League debut in January 2024, Bradley has started 15 of his country’s 17 games, missing only the friendlies against Sweden and Switzerland in March.

Quite how to compensate for his loss gives O’Neill yet another thing to consider as he plots how to pull off what would be the biggest result of his second spell in charge.

While there is no like-for-like replacement in the squad, Oxford United’s Brodie Spencer figures to fill the void at right wing-back against the four-time World Cup winners.

“You’ve seen Brodie play left wing-back, right wing-back, he’s even played in a back three. We know how strong and athletic he is,” added Hume.

“Obviously Conor is going to be a big miss, but we’re a big group, we’re a strong team and we’re all together.

“It’s something we have to deal with and we’ll be ready.”

O’Neill admired the performance of his young side, who have made a superb start to qualifying.

A win in Luxembourg was followed by an hour of matching European heavyweights Germany, who eventually prevailed to win 3-1.

Friday’s win was superb from first minute to last. A Patrik Hrosovsky own goal broke the deadlock before Hume’s superb effort with just under 10 minutes left made sure – but was it the best under O’Neill?

“I don’t really look at games like that because teams evolve,” O’Neill said when asked if it was the most complete performance since his return in 2023 for a second spell in charge.

The Germany fixture will be his 100th game as Northern Ireland boss.

“The team when I came back in is very different to the team now,” O’Neill said. “They have given other good performances, like at home here to Bulgaria [a 5-0 win in October 2024] when we were excellent.

“I think tonight was a team of a higher calibre as well, so you can say it is one of the best performances we’ve had, but I still think there is more in the tank, and I think the players believe that as well.”

O’Neill was also full of praise for Hume, who has moved up the leagues with Sunderland and is now a Premier League regular.

The defender’s goal had come after the in-form David Strelec poked an effort wide for Slovakia. In the past, when there felt like an inevitability that the opposition would hit back, Hume’s effort changed that narrative.

“We deserved to be more than one goal ahead with how the game had gone, but we needed that second goal,” said O’Neill.

“Slovakia are a good team and are very experienced at international level, and it only takes a moment.

“They did have that chance and they missed it. As a young team you can lose confidence and momentum in that situation, but when the second goal went in – and it was a great finish – it was great for him as he’s such an important player for us.”

When the qualifying draw was made in December, there was an understandable assumption that Germany would top the group and seal automatic qualification with Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Luxembourg fighting among themselves for the play-off spot afforded to the runner-up.

Slovakia’s victory over the four-time World Cup winners to kick things off last month has instead opened up myriad possibilities.

Friday night’s visitors to Windsor Park, who followed up their shock result against the Germans with late victory in Luxembourg, know that another three points in Belfast would be a huge step towards booking their place at next summer’s World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

While the side ranked 42nd in the world did not make the tournament in 2022, they reached the European Championships either side and were beaten by England at the last-16 stage in 2024 only after Jude Bellingham’s spectacular 96th-minute overhead kick.

Manager Francesco Calzona is the first foreign boss in the country’s history and came recommended by Slovakian legend Marek Hamsik from their time together at Napoli, where the Italian was an assistant coach.

Ties to the Serie A champions do not stop there with midfielder Stanislav Lobotka the side’s key player. The 30-year-old, however, has emerged as a major injury doubt for the game on Friday.

Another with recent Champions League experience, Atletico Madrid full back David Hancko, is another who could miss out.

While O’Neill said he would not believe their absences until the pair were missing when the anthems are played at Windsor Park, should Slovakia be without both then Middlesbrough striker David Strelec will be expected to carry a greater load.

The performances of 19-year-old Feyenoord winger Leo Sauer for the national side have sparked excitement too.

Price felt he “didn’t play well” in the 3-1 win away to Luxembourg when his early penalty was saved despite Jamie Reid tucking away the rebound.

However, he responded with a goal against Germany to bring his international tally to 10 and credits manager Michael O’Neill for giving him the confidence to bounce back against the four-time world champions.

“It’s about not getting too high when things are going well or getting too low when they aren’t,” he said.

“The Luxembourg game I missed a penalty, didn’t play well and was coming off a low point but then you play against Germany.

“The night before, Michael came over and said ‘forget about what happened the other night, you’ll go and do something tomorrow’ and it happened. Michael has been around so long he’ll have seen it with other players, so it was a great feeling to get one against Germany.”

The 22-year-old is part of the new crop of Northern Ireland players bidding to reach a major finals for the first time since Euro 2016 when O’Neill was in his first stint as manager.

However, he believes the “maturity” in the camp can help them through the upcoming games.

“The ground and the fans will be electric, but it’s about staying calm and composed because if you let the occasion get to you, it’s never the best thing.

“We’ve the right level of maturity in the group and players who have been there before, so they can help us.

“I hope they (opposition) realise we have a good young side and every team comes here fears it as they should do.”

Crusaders and Derry City will join forces to commence legal proceedings over their omission from Stage Two of the Northern Ireland Football Fund.

In September, the Department of Communities announced 20 clubs from across Northern Ireland would progress to the next round of the process with three different tiers of funding available.

Of the 41 clubs eligible to apply, 38 submitted bids, leaving those who missed out bitterly disappointed.

Both Crusaders and Derry City were two to miss out and having considered the decision, jointly confirmed on Wednesday evening they will now lodge legal proceedings against the decision to omit them.

In a statement, Crusaders said: “Following an extra-ordinary general meeting of Crusaders Football Club members on Wednesday, 8 October 2025, Crusaders FC have determined to join Derry City FC to commence legal proceedings to challenge the exclusion of both clubs from Stage 2 of the Northern Ireland Football Fund.”

The League of Ireland club expressed similar sentiments.

“Derry City FC have made the decision to join with Crusaders FC to commence legal proceedings to challenge the exclusion of both clubs from Stage 2 of the Northern Ireland Football Fund process,” they said in a statement.

“We believe we were left with no other option.”

The Stormont Executive has set £36.2m aside, but Communities Minister Gordon Lyons estimated the departmental cost of the 20 projects would come to “just over £82m”, while the “estimated total project costs” are £98m.

The big winners were NIFL Premiership clubs Glentoran and Cliftonville who progressed in the third and most expensive tier of over £6m.

The middle bracket of applications between £1.5m to £6m saw 13 successful applications, while five of of less than £1.5m also progressed.

At least three people have died and several are missing after torrential rain from Typhoon Matmo caused widespread flooding across northern Vietnam.

Ultimately, despite the backing of a new contract that was to run until Euro 2024, Baraclough would lose his job after a record of six wins and eight draws from 28 games and was replaced by the same man he had succeeded in the role, Michael O’Neill.

“There were times we were going over and applauding the fans and you could see that they were frustrated because we weren’t getting the results, but I knew deep inside that this was a project that was going to last much longer than the period of a campaign,” Baraclough says.

“I’d signed a new contract that would take me up to the last Euros campaign, but things happen, Michael becomes available from Stoke, for instance, and decisions will be made that are out of your hands.

“At the time, I found it very, very disappointing that I didn’t get a World Cup and a Euros because that was what, ultimately, you were going to be judged on and I ended up being judged on a Nations League campaign where we were absolutely flooding the squad with these young players. That was the disappointment for me, but, look, there’s no bitterness.”

As such, Baraclough has enjoyed watching from afar as a number of his former players become seasoned internationals.

“Maybe the fans thought that the previous campaign should have yielded more than what it did, but there was no way it was going to just materialise that you go away to the likes of Greece and turn them over,” he adds.

“This World Cup campaign was somewhere where we looked into the distance and thought realistically this is the best time for this group to really start making an impact because players will now have 100, 150 first-team games under their belts, they’ll have 20 to 25 senior caps or beyond under their belts, and now they’re just starting to feel comfortable at this level.

“It’s now come to fruition. To see those players come through and be doing so well at a senior level, it’s fantastic.

“It’s not one person per se that can lay claim to somebody’s success but, just for me, I love looking back and saying I really enjoyed my time working with them and hopefully I helped in some way in developing them as people and as players.”

Icelandair has listed the best places in the UK to spot the Northern Lights, as the cycle of the sun begins to move away from the solar maximum, meaning fewer chances to spot the aurora borealis

A UK island has been named the best spot for catching the Northern Lights while the solar maximum is still spreading colours across the night skies.

The next few months are likely to provide the best chances this decade to see the aurora borealis at its most spectacular, before the sun’s 11-year cycle begins to shift away from a stage that has created fantastic displays in the skies over the past two years.

To help travelers make the most of the season, Iceland’s flagship airline, Icelandair, has shared expert guidance on how to make the most of aurora season and how to capture stunning photos with this simple setting change on your iPhone.

Gísli S. Brynjólfsson, the director of Global Marketing at Icelandair, notes how important latitude and darkness are for seeing the Northern Lights. Which is why Shetland – the most northerly part of the UK, and one of the most remote, is top of his list of aurora spotting locations in the UK.

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In Shetland, which sits about 100 miles from the most northerly tip of mainland Britain, the regularly appearing aurora has a special local name – mirrie dancers.

There are number of other reasons why a trip to the Shetlands is a good idea.

Fans of the eponymously titled BBC detective show set on the island will enjoy spotting some of the local haunts of Inspector Jimmy Perez. Excitingly, the most northerly of the Shetland Islands, Unst, is now home to SaxaVord, the first fully licensed vertical launch Spaceport in Europe. Soon rockets will begin blasting off from the port to take satelites into space.

Head to Shetland at the end of January – which is a fantastic time to see the Northern Lights in terms of your odds – and you’ll be treated to the world famous Up Helly Aa fire festival. The event, which is traditionally held on the last Tuesday of January, celebrates Shetland’s Norse heritage.

Thousands of visitors travel to the UK’s most northerly islands each year to watch the evening torchlit procession through Lerwick, which reaches its climax when the replica of a Viking long ship is set on fire.

Whatever time of the year you make it there, you’re sure to be blown away by the sheer beauty of the island chain. Shetland is made up of rolling hills, open moors and wide beaches filled with seals.

According to the Met Office, the North Lights can also be viewed across parts of mainland UK, particularly Scotland, North England, North Wales, and Northern Ireland, during periods of strong space weather conditions. As the sun can be pretty unpredictable when it’s going to put on a show (a solar storm) it’s a good idea to monitor a website called Aurora Watch. There you can check the sun’s geomagnetic activity in real time and will tell you when the Northern Lights are likely to be visible from the UK.

Mr Brynjólfsson explained why September to March is peak viewing time:

“Iceland is one of the most magical destinations to see the northern lights. The official Northern Lights season runs from September to March. During this time of year, days are darkest and shortest, translating to northern lights peak viewing time,” he said.

“If you’ve already got a vacation to Iceland booked and are planning a trip to see the northern lights, the Icelandic Met Office provides a Northern Lights forecast with predictions for the coming three days. The map displays cloud coverage over Iceland, and a numbered KP index scale is located in the top right corner, indicating the level of solar activity. The scale ranges from 0 to 9 (very low to very strong).”

The best UK destination to spot the Northern Lights, according to Icelandair

1. Shetland Islands
2. Orkney Islands
3. Outer Hebrides
4. Isle of Skye
5. Caingorms National Park
6. Northumberland
7. Cumbria
8. County Antrim
9. Dumfries and Galloway
10. North Yorkshire