Latest news with #Wallace
Daily Record
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
The Scots 'Mountain' who won over Millwall hardnuts tells his story after seven years in The Den
Murray Wallace typified everything the working-class London outfit expected Millwall fans are notorious throughout British football. In their own words: 'No one likes us, we don't care.' Thankfully for Murray Wallace, the diehards adored their adopted Scot. Wallace has just blown the whistle on a magnificent seven years at The Den. The towering defender amassed more than 260 appearances for the Lions, popping up with 16 goals. A quick glance at social media after his exit was announced tells you how highly he was rated. Wallace typified everything the working-class London outfit expected, a Braveheart who wore his heart on his sleeve. And the former Falkirk stopper said: 'It's lovely to see and hear and get all the warm messages. 'All the hard work and stuff you've put in over the years, it's nice to see this appreciated. 'My time at Millwall wasn't plain sailing, I signed there as a centre-back and had to force my way into the team as a left-back and then wing-back and stuff. 'So I think the fans appreciated everything that I gave to the club and I really appreciate their support. 'I played there a few times on the opposite team when I was at Scunthorpe and Huddersfield. 'It was quite hostile, but when you play for them, it's actually alright! 'Some of my best moments are playing in front of a packed house at The Den.' Wallace will forever be remembered for his part in one of the most famous nights at The Den. The 32-year-old etched his name into FA Cup folklore with the added-time winner to beat Everton 3-2 in 2019. He said: 'Playing against Premier League teams, we packed the house out and it was really special. 'Just the way the game went, going behind, then going ahead, getting pulled back and scoring a last-minute winner, it was really special.' Wallace, who then got the only goal against AFC Wimbledon before the Lions were knocked out by Brighton, smiled: 'I was thinking I was going to score in every round all the way to the final. To score two winners in two rounds was brilliant.' Affectionately nicknamed 'The Mountain', the versatile Wallace was a mainstay as the club teetered on the brink of promotion to the Premier League. But the one painful regret is that his standout displays never led to a Scotland call-up. He reflected: 'It's always been an ambition of mine to play for Scotland, to even get one cap would be so special. 'Playing regularly in the Championship, when the team's doing well, you're playing well, just missing out on the play-offs on the last one or two games, I thought I might have a chance of a call-up. 'But unfortunately it's never quite materialised, and I'm obviously disappointed about that. 'But you've got to respect the decisions that are made, so that's fine.' A free agent for the first time in his career, Wallace will take his time to weigh up his future as he eyes a move closer to home after 13 years down south. He said: 'I started my career off in Scotland and it's brilliant to see the likes of Falkirk get back up. 'I've seen Scotty Arfield back there and that's brilliant for him. 'Obviously, there will be interest from teams up in Scotland. We've just got to see what's best footballing-wise and what's best for me and the family. 'There have been a few conversations with a few different clubs, but there's nothing concrete or anything ready to sign at the minute. It's just a bit of a waiting game.' Wherever he ends up, Millwall will always take a special place in his heart. Wallace added: 'I was there a long time and it just feels like so much had happened. 'You had some really surreal moments of the Covid season playing in front of no fans, and you had the highs of the FA Cup runs and scoring winners and stuff like that. 'You had the lows as well. Our chairman tragically passed away in my time there. Our keeper passed away as well at the start of last season. 'Some really massive moments, not just in terms of football but in life there. 'I married my wife whilst I was at Millwall. I've had all three of my children whilst I was at Millwall. It's a massive part of my life.'
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Profits at Hugh Wallace architect firm rise to over €176,000
New accounts show the post-tax profits for the 12 months to the end of June last followed a figure of €166,678 in the prior year. Douglas Wallace Consultants Ltd paid dividends of €57,412 last year. This followed a dividend payout of €30,000 in 2023. 'Business was very good last year. Very stable,' Mr Wallace said. Hotel and leisure business returned, he said, after it was decimated during the Covid-19 pandemic with the main work in the sector now refurbishments. Mr Wallace said the company is involved in house building in Dublin, Cork, Sligo and Dungarvan. 'We were not in the residential space four or five years ago,' he said. The company is also the designer of Harcourt Developments' €200m redevelopment of the North Quays in Waterford city that recently secured planning permission from Waterford City Council. The plans include 350 apartments across six blocks and a nine-storey 160-room hotel. Mr Wallace said the company employs 24 people, with the majority of those architects and architect technicians. Accumulated profits at Douglas Wallace Consultants Ltd at the end of June last totalled €702,147, while cash funds declined from €315,982 to €217,498. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Wallace said the hiring of 'super Marios' for the Government's Housing Activation Office was not the answer to addressing the current crisis. Rather than having a Housing Activation Office, he said the Land Development Agency (LDA), when it was established, should have been granted powers to address the housing crisis 'and make it more robust and give it proper authority'. Mr Wallace dismissed the Government's Housing Activation Office as 'just another quango'. He said the largest bottlenecks today in the effort to build more housing are securing finance from lenders and the cost of construction. 'They are interlinked. Planning is a bottleneck as well, but not to the same extent as these two issues. The banks are not lending.' Mr Wallace said he advises clients that planning for projects may take up to two years and 'they can't understand why this should be the case'.
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Architectural firm of Home of the Year judge records €176,408 profit for 2024
The architectural firm co-owned by Hugh Wallace, a judge on RTÉ ratings winner Home of the Year, has recorded post tax profits of €176,408 last year. New accounts show that the post-tax profits of €176,408 for the 12 months to the end of June last followed post-tax profits of €166,678 in the prior year. Douglas Wallace Consultants Ltd paid out dividends of €57,412 last year and this followed a dividend payout of €30,000 in 2023. In an interview, Mr Wallace said: 'Business was very good last year. Very stable.' He said that the hotel and leisure business is back after it was decimated during the covid pandemic with the main work in the sector now refurbishments. Mr Wallace said that the company is now involved in house building in Dublin, Cork, Sligo and Dungarvan and 'we were not in the residential space four or five years ago'. The company is also the designer of Harcourt Development's €200m redevelopment of the North Quays in Waterford city that recently secured planning permission from Waterford City and Council. The plans include 350 apartments across six blocks and a nine-storey, 160-room hotel. Mr Wallace said that 'roadblocks' in house building are the implementation of building regulations and fire regulations. He said that the company employs 24 with the majority architects and architect technicians. Accumulated profits at Douglas Wallace Consultants Ltd at the end of June last totalled €702,147 while cash funds declined from €315,982 to €217,498. Housing crisis Asked to comment on measures to combat the housing crisis, Mr Wallace stated that the hiring of 'Super Marios' for the Government's Housing Activation Office is not the answer in addressing the crisis. Mr Wallace said that rather than having a Housing Activation Office, the Land Development Agency (LDA) when it was established should have been granted the powers to address the housing crisis 'and make it more robust and give it proper authority'. Mr Wallace dismissed the Government's Housing Activation Office as 'just another quango'. He said that the largest bottlenecks today in the effort to build more housing are securing finance from lenders and the cost of construction. He said: 'They are interlinked. Planning is a bottleneck as well but not to the same extent as these two issues. The banks are not lending.' Mr Wallace said that he advises clients that the planning for projects may take up to two years and 'they can't understand why this should be the case'. Read More Home of the Year winners share secrets to creating a dream dwelling
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Nicolle Wallace launches ‘The Best People' podcast for MSNBC as spinoff looms
MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace has delivered some sharp criticism of President Trump since she became a host on the progressive-leaning cable news network in 2017. So it's surprising that her new podcast shares its name with one of Trump's regular boasts about his team: 'The Best People.' 'I thought he had abandoned it,' Wallace, 53, told The Times. 'But I actually think 'the best people' was one of his best messages in 2016.' 'He abandoned it officially when he picked Matt Gaetz,' she added, referring to Trump's first choice for attorney general. Each week on 'The Best People,' starting Monday, Wallace will have lengthy conversations with actors, musicians, thought leaders and other figures outside of politics. The guest on the first episode is actor and fellow podcaster Jason Bateman, followed by Sarah Jessica Parker, music producer Jimmy Jam, folk singer Joan Baez and Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers in coming weeks. The jump into podcasting comes as the network looks for more ways to reach the growing number of consumers who are no longer watching cable TV. The network says its existing audio podcasts, which include series from hosts Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes and Jen Psaki, will top 10 million downloads in May. 'Our goal is to meet our audience where they are and to bring the talent of our hosts and anchors to them in those spaces,' said Madeleine Haeringer, MSNBC's senior vice president of digital, audio and longform. 'It's not a one-size-fits-all formula — but instead, tailoring each project to both the host and the platform.' Wallace said she was ready to expand her role at MSNBC before the corporate changes. Podcasting appealed to her because, as a working mom, she knows many women aren't available to watch her daily program in the afternoon. Her branching out into less overtly political territory is somewhat unexpected. The former Bush White House communications director's tenure on the ABC talk show 'The View' was brief, partly due to her lack of pop culture expertise. That's not a concern this time around, she said. The guests she solicited for 'The Best People' are coming to the table to discuss their own advocacy issues apart from the kind of instant political analysis presented on her MSNBC program 'Deadline: White House.' Wallace connected with Jimmy Jam when they discussed creating a 'We Are the World' type of musical production to aid Ukraine. She knew Rivers through his social justice activism (as coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, he had to guide the players through the scandal over former owner Donald Sterling's racist comments) and Parker for her devotion to literacy programs. The podcast format allows them to open up in a way that doesn't always happen on live TV. 'For some reason, people sitting in front of their computer screens on the Zoom are even more candid and forthcoming about how they feel,' Wallace said. Wallace is wading into digital media at a time when MSNBC is in transition. The channel, along with other NBCUniversal cable outlets, is being spun off from current owner Comcast into a new company called Versant. Comcast is getting out of the cable channel business, with the exception of its potent reality brand Bravo, out of concern about the steady decline of the pay TV audience. Over the last 10 years, cord-cutting has reduced the number of cable homes MSNBC reaches by 33%. MSNBC also saw a mass exodus of viewers just after the presidential election, as its loyal left-leaning audience tuned out after Trump's victory. The ratings have gradually climbed back up, with MSNBC maintaining its second place position behind perennial cable leader Fox News but well ahead of third place CNN. In May, the network was up 24% from the lows it hit in November and December, but is still down 35% compared to the presidential campaign-elevated levels of a year ago, according to Nielsen. But leadership at Versant has it made clear that MSNBC will continue to cater to a politically progressive audience. Wallace believes the commitment to the network's point of view has only deepened under new management. 'It's a culture that really rewards deep wonky coverage of politics,' she said. '[MSNBC President] Rebecca Kutler has come in and tripled down on all of that.' The spinoff requires separating MSNBC from NBC News, where some journalists were uneasy with the intensity of partisan commentary on the cable network. Versant is hiring its own newsgathering team — as many as 100 journalists — including justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Dilanian, who is moving over from NBC. 'To work for someone who is hiring reporters at a time when we're looking at an administration that seems a little meh about the Constitution is pretty forward leaning,' Wallace said. She was inspired to try something new by the extracurricular activities of her husband, the New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Michael S. Schmidt, who co-created the Netflix thriller series 'Zero Day' with former NBC News President Noah Oppenheim. 'Michael enjoyed it so much it gave me the idea to add something that is a little outside my comfort zone,' Wallace said. Wallace met Schmidt, 41, at MSNBC, where he is a contributor. They married in 2022 and a year later had their first child via surrogate. Wallace also has a 13-year-old son, Liam, from her first marriage. While Wallace and Schmidt have a business-like dynamic when they appear together on the program, family matters creep in off-camera. 'When we are both on set, my son is texting us about dinner,' Wallace said. 'During the breaks, we're never talking about the rule of law. We're talking about logistics.'
Edinburgh Live
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh's Dynamic Earth will host Wallace & Gromit virtual reality event
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Dynamic Earth is set to welcome Scotland's first ever Wallace & Gromit experience as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations. Wallace & Gromit: All Systems Go augmented reality (AR) trail will be delivered from the multi-award-winning animation studio Aardman. Those behind the summer event, which runs from June 30th to August 31, have billed it as a fun filled family day out 'for cheese-lovers and budding inventors.' Those looking to attend are invited to download the free Wallace & Gromit All Systems Go Augmented Reality app available on both iOS and Android. Admission will cost £4.50 to the Dynamic Earth event, with those attending able to collect a special activity pack and unique AR location code at the Welcome Desk. The activity pack includes activity sheets and a pair of Gromit ears. An advert for the event stated: "Young inventors will unlock exciting, augmented reality scenes in the heart of Dynamic Earth, from trying Wallace's Techno Trousers to snapping selfies as the mischievous Feathers McGraw. Make sure your smartphone is ready—there'll be plenty of hilarious photo opportunities you'll want to share with friends and family. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sentstraight to your messages. "Don't forget to tag Dynamic Earth and Wallace & Gromit on social media! "Edinburgh's only Planetarium is getting in on the action too! As part of the summer celebrations, visitors can catch Wallace & Gromit's out-of-this-world antics on the big dome screen. "There will be daily showings of the classic A Grand Day Out with additional screenings of The Wrong Trousers on Saturdays and Sundays, continuing until August 31st. "And that's not all! These special showings will sit alongside our usual awe-inspiring Planetarium favourites, including We Are Stars, You Are Here, and our seasonal presenter lead show What's Up: Summer, exploring the 'super-cool' mysteries of our outer solar system. "So, whether you're building rockets with Wallace or star-hopping across the universe, there's more to explore at Dynamic Earth this summer!" Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox Dynamic Earth added: "We're absolutely over the moon to bring Wallace & Gromit to Dynamic Earth! This imaginative and playful AR trail captures everything we stand for—curiosity, creativity, and a whole lot of fun. It's set to be a summer adventure you won't want to miss! "So, grab your phone and get ready for an unforgettable day out at Dynamic Earth this summer." To find out more click here.
