John Laverty

When your nickname is ‘The King’, respect is already a given. And there was a palpable sense of keen anticipation as football royalty touched down in Belfast - but the meeting didn’t turn out as I’d imagined.

When your nickname is ‘The King’, respect is already a given. And there was a palpable sense of keen anticipation as football royalty touched down in Belfast - but the meeting didn’t turn out as I’d imagined.

One day left, so there’s still time to get my tuppence-worth in for Premier League player of the decade.

One day left, so there’s still time to get my tuppence-worth in for Premier League player of the decade.

Finally got round to reading Keith Gillespie’s autobiography ‘How NOT To Be A Football Millionaire’ over the Christmas break.

It’s a phrase — or rather a question — that has become part of football folklore: “Can they do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke?”

Keep this to yourself, but the next General Election will be on Thursday, March 28, 2024. Forget all that nonsense about the Tories attempting to delay ‘going to the country’ for as long as possible.

I’m writing this in a Belfast Starbucks and the staff are great and I’m feeling warm and welcome — but how long will this utopia last?

It was the talk of the town at the time. Picture the scene: a wedding reception in Ballymena, drinks and delicious meal followed by an amusing, entertaining speech from the Best Man about how lucky his best friend is to have landed such a wonderful bride.

I wasn’t always doing this, you know. It wasn’t as if the Belfast Telegraph editor simply chucked a typewriter in my direction as soon as I was old enough to spell onomatopoeia.