Big sports fan (Wigan Warriors, Pittsburgh Steelers, Manchester United, Lancashire CCC), walking enthusiast.
The Fylde, Lancashire
Joined March 2011
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Mark Illingworth retweeted
Thing is with #MUFC, the people who have the power to sack people are actually the people who need to be sacked.
Maybe not every year, but get it in the calendar. Plus a next tier six nations with France, PNG, Cooks, Wales, Ireland, Lebanon. Even one below with Scotland, USA, Canada, Jamaica, Greece, Serbia (?) 🤷
There you go.
Rugby League Six Nations. Play it every year between World Cups.
Australia
New Zealand
England
Samoa
Tonga
Fiji
Good to go. @NRL just send the check in the mail thanks.
I know he's in his mid 40s but Lancs have made a huge gaff here. Yes, we need to bring through a new team, but how many people pay to go watch Jimmy in a losing team, vs kids in a losing team. If he wanted to stay he should've stayed. We should be thanking him on his own terms.
25 years. Over 500 wickets for Lancashire. A Red Rose legend. ❤️🌹
Thank you, Jimmy.
🌹 #RedRoseTogether
This is one of the most standout facts in NFL history. Since 1970, year of the NFL merger:
35 playoffs
25 division titles
8 conference titles
6 Super Bowls
0 top 5 draft picks
#Steelers
That type of team would be a test for England. Problem would be getting that team. Most of those players have no motivation to play for a made up team against England. You'd need to pay them good and compensate clubs for any injuries. Where does that money come from.
Sutton is still explaining the obstruction call on the no try. If he just gave the forward pass that follows it then there's no chat. The guy is a naff ref that thinks he's the best ref ever. Shouldn't have had another game after last week yet here he is again. #RLWC2026
I mean, it was better than Vegas right..? 🤷
I do think this team can beat Samoa on Friday. Mary Coleman comes back in, maybe Georgia Wilson too. Start Roche, Foubister off the bench. Clean up the penalties and basic errors in the opening stages. It'll be a different outcome.
Agree the Ravens not being in the world cup was a mistake. With union's growth there in the women's game, anything that came from the last world cup may be lost. Sadly @collinstony words ring true again. Rugby League never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Wales should never have been playing in this RLWC Women's comp. Terrible new qualification rules gave Europe too many spots. Canada @CRLA_Ravens are ranked 7th in World rankings but missed out! Wales couldn't score even 1 point against them recently, in Wales! France weak as well
Will be an incredible story if this lad plays again. He's got a big journey but looks like he's trying everything. Good luck to him.
❤️ Our prop Noah Stephens underwent a five-hour Brachial Plexus nerve transfer surgery yesterday.
But what does that mean?
In simple terms, the procedure involved transferring nerves from his tricep to help restore function in the muscles in his shoulder and bicep.
Noah suffered his injury during a game in May, and it has been a long and complicated road to get to this point.
Now, the road to recovery begins.
Noah, you have the love, care and unwavering support of everyone at St.Helens behind you. We’re all with you on this journey, every step of the way, and we cannot wait to see you back where you belong. ❤️
#SaintsAndProud
Mark Illingworth retweeted
Farcical
Michael Cheika @LebanonRL Head Coach divulges that either the RLPA and/or @IntlRugbyLeague prevented the Cedars from playing a ‘warm up’ game prior to the World Cup, with Lebanon last playing a Test Match at the 2022 World Cup. This is an area that needs urgent attention #RLWC26
Mark Illingworth retweeted
It doesn’t matter who is linked with becoming Manchester United manager, because whatever the name (and most of those in circulation have previously already been ruled out), they are set up to fail.
The parasitic Glazer ownership has bled and broken the club, putting a financial noose around it.
In 2024, Sir Jim Ratcliffe talked a big game about a “three-year plan” to rival and outdo Manchester City and Liverpool. But the decision-making under INEOS’ charge of football operations has not just been woeful, but costly too. There is zero accountability for expensive mistake after expensive mistake.
There is still no clear direction on club identity, including style of play, which leads to profiling the right signings and manager. That was a major promise made by Ratcliffe, which hasn’t been kept.
To borrow his own words: “There have been a whole series of coaches, some of which were very good. And none of them were successful, or survived for very long.
The only conclusion you can draw is that the environment in which they were working didn’t work.”
It still doesn’t. It never will as long as the people who own and run the club betray Manchester United and what is required to be successful in the modern era.
You can harp on about structure, vision, and sell fanciful projects, but you will never have the right operation with the wrong people.
Mark Illingworth retweeted
If you want to know why this World Cup is on Premier Sports and not the BBC - start here...
The Premier League isn't just strangling rugby league - it's killing other parts of soccer, too.
Bournemouth, with a stadium holding 11k in a city the size of Warrington, just beat AC Milan 3-0.
That's Bournemouth, who have never won a major trophy but happened to win promotion in the year that the biggest TV deal in history kicked in and thus get £170m before a single fan buys a ticket.
Bournemouth get 80% of their income from a TV deal they barely contribute to, and just 4% from their fans.
For reference, that's half of the *entire* NRL revenue, just from TV, and five times the value of the Brisbane Broncos.
That's AC Milan, the team of Maldini, Baresi, Kaka, van Basten, Rivera, Gullit and Rijkaard.
They get half what Bournemouth get from TV - despite being one of the biggest clubs in the world with an average home attendance of 60k fans.
Bournemouth beating Milan isn't a surprise. They were $2.10 (11/10) favourites before kick-off.
Now remember that there's 19 other Bournemouths in the UK, each competing for attention, and this is what Super League is up against every single week for media spend and oxygen.
The BBC shouldn't be driven by this - Lord Reith wants a word - but commercially, they are. They follow the clicks, and the money, like everyone else.
Rugby league suffers. So does the rest of football. So does cricket, rugby union and anything else you might suggest.
Mark Illingworth retweeted
We’ve spent £490m on forwards since 2021 haven’t signed a better forward than Rashford
We’ve spend £100m on attacking midfielders since Bruno joined and haven’t signed anyone remotely close to replacing Bruno or offering him decent cover
We’ve spent £210m on central midfielders since we sold McTominay and none of them are better than him only Mainoo who wasn’t bought and was almost sold by INEOS
We’ve spent £200m on centre backs since Maguire was bought and he’s still our best CB
We’ve brought in eight fullbacks that can play LB since 2018, none have been improvements on Shaw the only one that could be was sold to Benfica for pennies
Wan Bissaka was sold to buy Mazraoui and promote Dalot to starting RB, both of whom have underperformed against Wan Bissaka and have fewer crosses, chances created and g/a
We’ve spent £65m on goalkeepers none of which are better than Dean Henderson
This is INEOS’s legacy, this is Man United now
“ole’s dross” are still our best players, no manager has managed to be as consistent as he was despite having twice the funding
Incredible
Mark Illingworth retweeted
Not sure if I would say rugby league is dying, but agree with the stuff about coverage. As I wrote in last weekend's column there is an unhealthy lack of variety in sports coverage now, as it focuses on just a handful of association football teams. morningstaronline.co.uk/arti…
Slow death of rugby league is down to data, algorithms and football’s hegemonic ‘Big Six’
It’s one of Britain’s best-attended sports but you’d struggle to find the World Cup on TV. What hope do the rest have?
✍️ @RorySmith
bit.ly/4yykinu
That Denis Betts Widnes team had some real great moments. Rhys Hanbury for a couple of seasons was one of the most fun players to watch in Super League.
📂It's #ThrowbackThursday time.
😮💨This week, highlights of our 12-man triumph in enemy territory back in 2013.
Looks like progress being made...
We’ve resubmitted our 2027 business plan and agreed to use escrow with the @TheRFL .
Our proposal: the RFL would hold funds covering 60% of club expenses until May 2027.
We have the resources and commitment. We will not stop fighting for rugby league in Wales.
I like this range.
