WhatsApp groups can be funny places.
There are the obvious ones for family and close friends but, beyond those, there is a myriad of loose associations, populated by people you rarely see or, indeed, have never met.
Despite this, relationships can build up and banter – of varying quality – develops, with running jokes coming to life.
One such example is in a group for football shirt collectors which has evolved into a general sports chat. Since the beginning of the 2024-25 season, a common joke is where someone will say that Dutch side AZ Alkmaar have scored and ask the rest to guess the scorer.
“Parrott?” will come a reply, prompting the original questioner to repeat his query.
However, during a crazy week in November, the joke remained sidelined, despite ample opportunity – things were just too tense.
It was not, as some more hysterical commentators have painted it, the best week in Irish football history – there are still a couple of major steps to take if the men’s national team are to reach what is, let’s not forget, the most bloated FIFA World Cup in history.
At the same time, it did underline just how much a couple of positive results can create a fervour around the country that nothing else can replicate.
Predictions gone wrong
Equally, it shows just how quickly the mood can change: this column will gladly hold its hands up and say how delightful it was to be proven wrong after an assessment of the landscape prior to the away game against Portugal in October.
As impressive as the home win against Portugal and the epic triumph in Budapest – featuring five goals from Parrott, including the added-time winner in the latter – were, they must be matched in Prague against Czechia in March and then emulated again against either Denmark or North Macedonia.
The key thing is that we have them to long forward to – and isn’t it interesting how nobody is referring to Heimir
Hallgrímsson as ‘The Dentist’ anymore?
There is a possibility of the women’s team securing World Cup qualification this year too – while it’s unlikely that they will top an initial group featuring France, the Netherlands and Poland and secure the direct route to Brazil 2027, they will be in the autumn play-offs at worst.
In a kind of a yin-and-yang movement, the soccer team’s resurgence came at a time when the Ireland men’s rugby team’s stock dropped – but that is a fairly relative phrase, given that Andy Farrell’s team are still fourth in the world.
Losses to New Zealand and South Africa in November will have given the management food for thought. England are the form team facing into the Six Nations Championship – and 2026 is a year when Ireland must visit Twickenham and the Stade de France.
The hope is that, for a change, Ireland are building towards peaking at a World Cup rather than in between tournaments; if that is the case, then some eggs do have to broken to make the new omelette.
It’s worth noting that the women’s rugby team come into 2026 just one place lower than the men in their world rankings, up to fifth after being tenth at the beginning of 2024.
Kate Sullivan of Dublin in action against Karla Kealy of Meath during the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship final match against Dublin at Croke Park in Dublin.
/ Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
The difficulty for Scott Bemand’s side is that both England and France are among the quartet above them and the gap to bridge now is not inconsiderable. Thankfully, their graph is firmly pointing upwards after a very frustrating half-decade.
The graph for Gaelic football is also trending positively, though the new season could come under the ‘difficult second album’ heading. Given the way the sport had become so turgid, last year’s joie de vivre was like seeing a new colour, being shown the potential that we always felt was there.
It was fitting that Kerry took the first football title of the new era, but it’s worth remembering just how much they were being written off prior to the All-Ireland quarter-final win over Armagh. The chasing pack are not that far away.
Incidentally, ladies’ football is undergoing its own ‘year zero’, trialling a number of initiatives similar to the men’s code. Dublin are back on top of the tree after the All-Ireland final win over Meath, but overall there is a sense of greater democracy – the rule-changes could underline that even more.
Camogie would certainly love to have as many viable contenders for glory, given that you have to go back to 2012 for the last winner that was not Cork, Galway or Kilkenny.
Against that is the fact that the last two Cork-Galway finals have been pulsating affairs with little between the sides. And you hardly thought we forgot the men’s equivalent, did you?
After 2025, we would like to think that nobody would ever again make a sweeping statement about what to expect, but then it was hardly the first time in hurling history that the consensus was turned on its head.
The last two All-Ireland finals have featured three Munster counties – and Limerick was not one of them, a statistic that you feel could be recast this year, especially now that their ‘mother figure’ Caroline Currid is back to provide psychological assistance.
It should make the Munster championship more keenly fought than ever, again showing just why three qualifying from a five-team group is the ideal balance.
What will happen? We haven’t a clue, about any of it.
But we can’t wait.
WhatsApp groups can be funny places.
There are the obvious ones for family and close friends but, beyond those, there is a myriad of loose associations, populated by people you rarely see or, indeed, have never met.
Despite this, relationships can build up and banter – of varying quality – develops, with running jokes coming to life.
One such example is in a group for football shirt collectors which has evolved into a general sports chat. Since the beginning of the 2024-25 season, a common joke is where someone will say that Dutch side AZ Alkmaar have scored and ask the rest to guess the scorer.
“Parrott?” will come a reply, prompting the original questioner to repeat his query.
However, during a crazy week in November, the joke remained sidelined, despite ample opportunity – things were just too tense.
It was not, as some more hysterical commentators have painted it, the best week in Irish football history – there are still a couple of major steps to take if the men’s national team are to reach what is, let’s not forget, the most bloated FIFA World Cup in history.
At the same time, it did underline just how much a couple of positive results can create a fervour around the country that nothing else can replicate.
Predictions gone wrong
Equally, it shows just how quickly the mood can change: this column will gladly hold its hands up and say how delightful it was to be proven wrong after an assessment of the landscape prior to the away game against Portugal in October.
As impressive as the home win against Portugal and the epic triumph in Budapest – featuring five goals from Parrott, including the added-time winner in the latter – were, they must be matched in Prague against Czechia in March and then emulated again against either Denmark or North Macedonia.
The key thing is that we have them to long forward to – and isn’t it interesting how nobody is referring to Heimir
Hallgrímsson as ‘The Dentist’ anymore?
There is a possibility of the women’s team securing World Cup qualification this year too – while it’s unlikely that they will top an initial group featuring France, the Netherlands and Poland and secure the direct route to Brazil 2027, they will be in the autumn play-offs at worst.
In a kind of a yin-and-yang movement, the soccer team’s resurgence came at a time when the Ireland men’s rugby team’s stock dropped – but that is a fairly relative phrase, given that Andy Farrell’s team are still fourth in the world.
Losses to New Zealand and South Africa in November will have given the management food for thought. England are the form team facing into the Six Nations Championship – and 2026 is a year when Ireland must visit Twickenham and the Stade de France.
The hope is that, for a change, Ireland are building towards peaking at a World Cup rather than in between tournaments; if that is the case, then some eggs do have to broken to make the new omelette.
It’s worth noting that the women’s rugby team come into 2026 just one place lower than the men in their world rankings, up to fifth after being tenth at the beginning of 2024.
Kate Sullivan of Dublin in action against Karla Kealy of Meath during the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship final match against Dublin at Croke Park in Dublin.
/ Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
The difficulty for Scott Bemand’s side is that both England and France are among the quartet above them and the gap to bridge now is not inconsiderable. Thankfully, their graph is firmly pointing upwards after a very frustrating half-decade.
The graph for Gaelic football is also trending positively, though the new season could come under the ‘difficult second album’ heading. Given the way the sport had become so turgid, last year’s joie de vivre was like seeing a new colour, being shown the potential that we always felt was there.
It was fitting that Kerry took the first football title of the new era, but it’s worth remembering just how much they were being written off prior to the All-Ireland quarter-final win over Armagh. The chasing pack are not that far away.
Incidentally, ladies’ football is undergoing its own ‘year zero’, trialling a number of initiatives similar to the men’s code. Dublin are back on top of the tree after the All-Ireland final win over Meath, but overall there is a sense of greater democracy – the rule-changes could underline that even more.
Camogie would certainly love to have as many viable contenders for glory, given that you have to go back to 2012 for the last winner that was not Cork, Galway or Kilkenny.
Against that is the fact that the last two Cork-Galway finals have been pulsating affairs with little between the sides. And you hardly thought we forgot the men’s equivalent, did you?
After 2025, we would like to think that nobody would ever again make a sweeping statement about what to expect, but then it was hardly the first time in hurling history that the consensus was turned on its head.
The last two All-Ireland finals have featured three Munster counties – and Limerick was not one of them, a statistic that you feel could be recast this year, especially now that their ‘mother figure’ Caroline Currid is back to provide psychological assistance.
It should make the Munster championship more keenly fought than ever, again showing just why three qualifying from a five-team group is the ideal balance.
What will happen? We haven’t a clue, about any of it.
But we can’t wait.
SHARING OPTIONS