Cliftonville striker Joe Gormley has been honoured with a new mural in his native Ardoyne. He is Cliftonville’s all-time leading goal-scorer, with more than 300 goals. He has recently signed for the forthcoming (2026-2027) season, which he says will be his last (BBC).
Velsheda Court, Ardoyne/Glenard, north Belfast. There was previously a board to Joe The Goal in Berwick Road.
The “Green Brigade” is the name of a group of Celtic ultras (web). The design and slogan of the paste-up come from the “Sniper at work” signs from the 1990s, which celebrated the IRA’s sniper campaign in the south Armagh area – various examples can be seen in the Peter Moloney Collection.
The Don Patricio/Patrick O’Connell mural at the bottom of the Whiterock Road was refreshed for Féıle 2024. The major change is in the middle of the mural, where Lionel Messi – who went to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 and then to Inter Miami in 2023 – has been replaced by current stars Aitana Bonmatí and Lamine Yamal. (A modern soccer-ball replaces the leather ball of the original mural, patches have been added to O’Connell’s jacket, and the FAI trophy and the large Cup Winner’s medal has been removed to make room for Bonmatí.) The new mural was relaunched on August 2nd, 2024, with an address by the director of the FC Barcelona museum at Camp Nou (Belfast Media).
For more – on O’Connell’s career as a player and manager, the emblems in the stands, and the headlines on the newspaper – see From Celtic Park To Barcelona.
“Show Israel The Red Card” is a campaign to suspend Israel from UEFA and FIFA competitions (Haaretz).
Supporters of various teams around the world (Quds News | Combat Antisemitism) have been displaying the slogan at games, following the lead of Celtic ultras in a match against Bayern Munich (youtube).
On March 8th, various groups, including RSYM (Fb), held a protest at Free Derry Corner (Fb video).
In smaller letters below the main slogan is “#LajeeCeltic” – Lajee Celtic (web) is a football academy in a camp in Palestine.
At the heart of this east Belfast homage to the healing power of soccer are German and British soldiers shaking hands over a ball in ‘no man’s land’ on the Western Front, on Christmas Day, 1914. The image is not from a contemporary photograph but a modern one of a 2014 sculpture depicting such an even by Andy Edwards (TruceStatue) (who also did the Pat Jennings sculpture in Newry – seen in Pat Jennings). For more images of the WWI soccer statue, see WWI Cemeteries.
It’s not clear that matches between opposing forces – rather than simple fraternisation – were actually played; see Wikipedia for a review of the evidence.
“With voice, pen or hand we will defend our land.” David (Davy) Patterson (12-10-1955 – 03-01-2019) was a member of the 1st East Belfast Rangers Supporters Club (Fb) and Albertbridge Glentoran Supporters Club (Funeral Times).
“Let others come after us – we welcome the chase.” The exterior wall of the Carrickfergus Rangers Supporters Club presents a gallery of the club’s managers from 1899 to 2018. In order they are William Wilton, Bill Struth, Scot Symon, David White, William Waddell, Jock Wallace, John Greig, Graeme Souness, Walter Smith, Dick Advocaat, Alex McLeish, Paul Le Guen, Ally McCoist, Stuart McCall, Mark Warburton, Pedro Caixinha, Graeme Murty, Steve Gerrard (and since then, there have been Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale, and (currently) Philippe Clement).
“Rangers ’til I die.” Here are images from the courtyard of the Carrickfergus Rangers Supporters Club, (Fb) and the approach to the clubhouse.
First, a pair of UVF boards above the courtyard listing both local (Carrickfergus, Ballyduff, Ballyclare, Greenisland, Glengormley, Monkstown, Rathcoole, Larne, Whitehead) and affiliated British units (Drumchapel (Glasgow, Scotland), Springburn (Glasgow) Possilpark (Glasgow), Paisley (Scotland), Falkirk (Scotland), Liverpool (England), Blackpool (England), Corby (England), and Blairgowrie (Scotland)) of the 1st East Antrim Battalion, “The people’s army”.
Second, the tarp on the back of the Men’s Shed.
Third and fourth, the boards on the lawn and the painted columns of the railway bridge on St Bride’s Street/North Road.
Here are images of murals from the interior and the outside patio of the Rangers Supporters Club (Fb) in Carrickfergus. January 2nd, 1971 – included in the panel above – is the date of the Ibrox disaster, in which 66 people died (WP). “Fleshers’ Haugh” [Butchers’ Low-Lying Meadow] – included in the panel below – is the part of Glasgow Green where Rangers played their games in the first three years of the club’s existence (Scotland Guide). Edmiston Drive (above) and Copland Road (third image) are streets adjacent to the stadium.
Dundela “ultras” have been told they are not welcome at the team’s future games after “unsavoury chanting” at the NI Championship match against local rivals H&W Welders – “the most cataclysmic derby match in world football” (BelTel).
Thirteen more soccer-related stickers are below, including [Glasgow] Rangers Action Force.