Two NIFL Premiership clubs chase Loughgall ace
Loughgall midfielder Adhamh Towe looks set to be handed the opportunity to stay in the Sports Direct Premiership, with at least a trio of clubs keen to offer him top flight football next season.
Towe, who only turned 20 in March, held down a regular place in the Villagers team, appearing in 35 of their 38 League games and the form that helped him to become almost an automatic choice has caught the eye of other clubs.
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Belfast Telegraph
a day ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Belfast Giants to retire Adam Keefe's #47 jersey: ‘I am truly humbled'
At his testimonial game on Sunday, recognising 14 years of remarkable service to the organisation as a player and a coach, the Giants legend will become only the eighth player in club history to see his jersey raised to the rafters, never to be worn again by another player. It is the highest honour that can be bestowed in hockey and a wholly deserved one for Keefe, the team's most successful coach and an individual who is described as the "heartbeat" of the organisation. Commenting on the retirement of his 47 jersey, Adam Keefe said: 'It's hard to put into words what this means to me. Belfast has become my home, and the Giants have been my life for over a decade. To see my jersey raised to the rafters, in front of my family and friends, and our incredible fans who have supported me all these years before my testimonial, will be truly humbling. I'm very honoured and proud.' Joining the organisation in 2011 as a hard-nosed forward and quickly establishing himself as captain in only his second season in Belfast, Keefe would win two Elite League titles with the Giants as a player but it is as coach that his legacy has been taken to another level. In his seven seasons in charge, Keefe has delivered ten trophies to the Giants out of a possible 19, including the Grand Slam in 2023 as his all-conquering side swept all before them to secure League, Challenge Cup and Play-Off glory. Last season the Brampton, Ontario native led the Giants to their fourth League title under his stewardship, winning a dramatic final day race to clinch the crown, as well as a fifth Cup, and is now preparing to take the team into the Champions League for the fourth time next season. And on Sunday he will be honoured not just with the jersey retirement but with his testimonial game which features a plethora of friends and former team-mates, who will gather at the SSE Arena to celebrate a remarkable career in Belfast. Keefe's name will join a list of legends whose jerseys hang from the bridge already, the likes of Todd Kelman, Colin Shields and Graeme Walton already immortalised - and now the Giants' "heartbeat" joins them. Not just the team's coach, Keefe has now built his life in Northern Ireland having married wife Colleen, with the couple welcoming their daughter Cora in 2021.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
'No trophies - but Edinburgh now a team to be proud of'
Edinburgh have played 26 games this season in all competitions. In 12 of those we have conceded a total of 16 tries in the 10-minute period following is more than we concede in any other part of our matches. Over the season it has arguably cost Edinburgh at least two league wins. On Saturday it cost us a chance of a score Bulls got in the 51st minute and the fact they failed to cross the line again in the remainder of the match makes it hard to see past that 40-51 minute period as being in the game the broadcasters showed a graphic that told us Bulls forwards were 57kg heavier than Edinburgh. That weight certainly showed at scrum time and as weird as might seem when you score five tries it felt like a rearguard action for much of the 80 a lot of ways our three games against Bulls this season typify what progress there has 1. I described Edinburgh as asthmatic and wasteful. Only one 2. A much improved and focused win. We looked like a 3. A five-try thriller where we just fell short on on your viewpoint the progress is there. A semi-final and a quarter-final allied to a try count we have only surpassed once in our history is balanced out by the fact we won fewer games in the league than we did last are no trophies. That's not new and if that's your reason for supporting Edinburgh, then to paraphrase Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, you've been there is now a team you can be proud of. A team who are putting their bodies on the line for their long-suffering supporters. A team that finally looks like it wants to live up to the 'on paper' reputation that seems to follow them have some departures that could hurt, Jamie Ritchie probably chiefly among those, but we have recruited well and I'm excited to see them make their mark alongside some of the young players who are stepping up.I'm already looking forward to next season as long as we continue playing as if we have a chip on our shoulders as opposed to a silver spoon in our Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external
Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Belfast Giants to open new season with Finnish double-header in Champions League
Adam Keefe's double winners, who earned their place at Europe's top table courtesy of reclaiming the Elite League title in April, will start their season with the visits of Liiga champions KalPa and Tampere-based Ilves in a blockbuster opening two fixtures. KalPa, who won their first Liiga title back in May, will be the Giants' first competitive opponents at the SSE Arena on Thursday August 28 before Ilves arrive into Belfast two days later on Saturday August 30, both games having a 7pm face-off. That is followed by the first of two trips to Switzerland a week later, the draw unkindly giving the Giants three National League teams to face in the League stage of the competition, with games in Lausanne and Zug comprising their double-header road trip in rounds three and four. There will be a French flair to kick things off as Belfast will be at the Vaudoise Aréna to take on Swiss regular season champions Lausanne on Friday September 5 at 5pm BST before a trip to the German side of the country, with their visit to the Brossard Arena in Zug on Sunday September 7 at 1pm BST. As per usual, the tournament takes a break for about a month before returning for two midweek games in October to round out the League stage, the Giants completing their Swiss sojourn with a trip to Bern in round five, clashing at the PostFinance Arena on Wednesday October 8 with a 6.45pm BST face-off. And their schedule will be rounded out a week later on Tuesday October 14 with their final home game, Swedish side Brynäs coming to the SSE Arena for a 7pm face-off. In order to reach the knockout stages, which begin in November, the Giants need to emulate last season's Sheffield Steelers and finish in the top-16 of the 24-team League, which would likely require around eight or nine points – a tall order given the brutal draw the Giants have received. Belfast Giants' Champions League schedule All face-off times BST Thursday August 28: Belfast Giants v KalPa, SSE Arena, 7pm Saturday August 30: Belfast Giants v Ilves, SSE Arena, 7pm Friday September 5: Lausanne HC v Belfast Giants, Vaudoise Aréna, 5pm Sunday September 7: EV Zug v Belfast Giants, Brossard Arena, 1pm Wednesday October 8: SC Bern v Belfast Giants, PostFinance Arena, 6.45pm
