1. Northern Ireland football has reason to be optimistic

Winning your group and earning promotion in a competition that has brought nothing but pain and misery over recent years should be seen as a sign of progress and encouragement for Northern Ireland fans.

Yes, it might have only been a pool including Bulgaria, Belarus and Luxembourg, but this year’s Nations League was a significant stride forward for Michael O’Neill’s squad.

The campaign saw a number of youngsters come of age, including the likes of Conor Bradley, Shea Charles, Trai Hume and Brodie Spencer. The word ‘fearless’ was often used when describing their impact in 2024, and hopes are high that this is just the beginning of a new era for Northern Ireland football.

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Sure, tougher tests lie in wait. Not least the World Cup qualifiers which will see O’Neill’s side take on either Germany or Italy alongside Slovakia and Luxembourg. But with momentum starting to build, who’s to say Northern Ireland can’t make their mark on Group A?

2. New year, new GAA rules

They may be well intentioned and may have been thought through by some of Gaelic football’s finest minds but even so, the sport is taking a gigantic leap of faith ahead of the 2025 season.

No one knows how they will pan out but everyone can hazard an informed guess that some defensively-minded coach somewhere will put together a plan to negate the strengths of a more talented team and within weeks, sides across the country will be mimicking that strategy.

The hope is the spectacle will improve on the back of Jim Gavin’s recommendations.

Within Donegal and Kerry, there is particular hope that Michael Murphy’s return, and David Clifford’s new found freedom, may lead to glory.

But will there be tweaks to the rules after the National League? Will (wayward) long range kicking become the new bugbear? Will the game be better to watch? This, no doubt, will be the GAA’s biggest talking point of 2025.

3. GAA Funding

The biggest contest in 2025 could well be between Revenue and the GAA. Put it this way, the days of under the counter payments to managers at club and inter county level are coming to an end.

4. Can Linfield return to the top step?

This year’s Irish Premiership title race has been an unpredictable bag. As we move into 2025, just 10 points separate second spot and ninth.

Dungannon Swifts sit second while promoted Portadown are fourth - did anyone really predict that at the start of the season?

Glentoran’s rollercoaster campaign shows no signs of relenting, albeit Declan Devine’s side have discovered a new steely resolve in recent weeks to climb to third.

As for champions Larne, their European heroics have dominated the headlines this term, and had an impact on their title defence.

They are currently 22 points behind leaders Linfield, but have about 100 games in hand. How they play out remains to be seen.

As for the Blues, if you checked social media at stages this season you could be forgiven for thinking David Healy and Co are in crisis. But as of December 27 they sit 12 points clear.

It’s a ‘crisis’ any other manager would love to endure, and 2025 could be the year Linfield return to the top.

5. Rory question set to continue in 2025

WE all know which question will follow the Holywood golfer in 2025. Can he finally end his major drought?

It was back in 2014 that Rory won his last major, the US PGA Championship.

Since then there have been plenty of agonising finishes, not least at this year’s US Open when he crumbled on the back stretch to lose out by a shot to Bryson DeChambeau.

Golf fans have all been agonising over the wait. Please, Rory, end the pain for all of us in 2025.

6. Most open GAA Championship in years

Dublin are not what they were. Nor are Derry. Galway never made it. Kerry were mediocre in 2024. Donegal are on the up again.

Tyrone have the manager they have been yearning for; Armagh are likely to suffer the fate all new champions suffer with second season syndrome. And then there are potential provincial dark horses such as Clare, Sligo, Kildare and Down.

Will Clifford run amok under the new rules? Can Michael Murphy be as effective after such a long inter-county lay off? Is there a last hurrah in that Derry team?

Make no mistake, 2025 will be the most open season since 2010 when Cork and Down, of all teams, ended up contesting the All-Ireland final and Kildare reached the semis.

7. Is Limerick’s hurling era over?

Nicky Quaid is gone for 2025 but Shane Dowling is back. Can Limerick come back to the top?

The winners of five of the last seven All-Irelands will try to recover from a shock semi-final defeat to Cork in 2024.

8. Davy Fitz the bill in Antrim

Some love him; others get wound up by him. Yet you cannot ignore the impact Davy Fitzgerald has made on hurling. Prior to his playing career, Clare had won one All-Ireland. He, as player and manager, helped them win three.

Waterford had won just eight Munster SHC titles prior to his appointment in 2008. He made it nine. They haven’t won one since.

Then there was Wexford, a county that was in the
doldrums. He made them Leinster champions for the first time in 15 years.

Now it is Antrim, who haven’t registered much on the national scale since 1991, when they ran Kilkenny to two points in the All-Ireland semis. Yes, there were wins over Dublin in 2010, Wexford last year, but Fitzgerald is so ambitious and dogged that he’ll not be satisfied unless they win either a League or a Leinster championship.

9. Irish rugbys’ big gamble

IT really is madness that the IRFU, an organisation that is so financially dependent on the men’s international team, has allowed its head coach to take a prolonged sabbatical.

The claim that it is an honour for Andy Farrell to be selected as head coach of the British and Irish Lions begs the question. An honour for whom? Farrell, yes. But for Irish rugby? How?

His assistant Simon Easterby has the big gig for the 2025 Six Nations, a competition Ireland should come close to winning. Minus Farrell, their chances have decreased.

PREDICTIONS

10: Rhasidat Adeleke to medal at the 2025 World Championships.

11: Rachael Blackmore was unstoppable in 2021 and 2022. Now she’s on the way back from injury. Watch her light up 2025.

12: Richie Murphy to finally steady the ship with Ulster rugby.

13: Errigal Ciaran could make it another famous season for Ulster football with All-Ireland club glory.

14: Kingdom to reign in men’s and ladies football.

15: Linfield to reclaim the Irish League and add the cup for good measure.

16: Leona Maguire to get a top three finish in a major.

LOOK OUT FOR

17: CAN Galopin Des Champs secure a hat-trick of Gold Cup wins?

Trained by Willie Mullins, Galopin Des Champs lost its most recent outing and will face competition from stablemate, Fact To File. Golden Miller won the race five times, Cottage Rake, Arkle and Best Mate on three occasions. That’s the quality of the company GDC would be in if he won again in March.

18: KATIE Taylor considering retiring. She does not owe anyone anything. Not Eddie Hearn, her promoter, not Brian Peters, her manager, and not even the sport itself.

At 38, she has been at the top level for two decades, with the pro game giving her career a new lease of life after the chaos of 2016, when she relinquished her gold medal.

Like most boxers, Taylor doesn’t want to let go of the thing in life that defines her. But there comes a time when she’ll have to.

The rivalries with Persoon, Cameron and Serrano will stay in the memory for a long time. Her legacy is secure.

But boxing isn’t a sport you play. Look through history’s scrapbook at the damaging impact it had on great fighters – Muhammad Ali being the most obvious example.

Taylor should stop in 2025. She’s nothing left to prove.

19: The battle between TJ Reid and Pat Horgan to be the all-time leading scorer in Championship hurling. Horgan has 29-629 (716) to his name, Reid with 34-604 (706). Both have been on the go since 2008, Horgan now 36, Reid 37.

RISING STARS

20: Shea Charles (soccer) – Conor Bradley may get most of the headlines, but NI have a real gem in young Southampton midfielder.

21: Tom McKibbin (golf) – The 21-year-old Holywood golfer claimed his breakthrough DP World Tour title last year and has reached new heights.

22: Paul Hughes (MMA) – Has been around a while, but 2024 was a real breakthrough year for ‘Big News’ as he earned mainstream attention. 2025 promises to be bigger.

23: Ruairi Canavan (Gaelic football) – like father, like son

24: Ciaran Moore (Gaelic football) – prodigy from Donegal who could light up 2025.

25: Thomas Stewart (rugby) – Turns 24 in January but that’s young for a hooker. Dynamic, skilful, talented. Remember his name.

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