Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson lifted the Premier League trophy in Anfield last night, following his team's 5-3 win over Chelsea in an open, thrilling and richly entertaining contest. Naby Keïta's sublime goal started things off and the victory was sealed by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's clinical finish, ensuring Liverpool remain unbeaten throughout a third successive league campaign at home. Earlier West Ham drew 1-1 with Manchester United - Mason Greenwood cancelled out a Michail Antonio penalty - guaranteeing their Premier League safety. The point means that United need only to draw with Leicester on Sunday's final day to seal fourth place and Champions League qualification. Irish striker Callum Robinson was on target as West Brom ground their way to Premier League promotion thanks to a battling 2-2 draw with QPR on an incredible final day to the Championship season. Hull, Charlton and Wigan ended the season in the bottom three, though the Latics are appealing against their 12-point deduction, while Swansea pipped Nottingham Forest to the last playoff spot. In domestic soccer news, the FAI is still awaiting clearance from the Government for a quarantine relaxation for their international team between the upcoming Uefa Nations League fixtures.
Golf's European Tour marked its return to a full format on Wednesday with the British Masters, and former US Open champion Michael Campbell is the story of the first round after his opening 68 left him four shots off leader David Law. He has not made a European Tour cut in seven years and lies outside the world's top 2,000 ranked golfers. Irishman Jonathan Caldwell birdied the closing two holes to move into the top 10 as he carded a four-under 67, Paul Dunne carded a level-par 71 thanks to birdies on the 16th and 17th, but Cormac Sharvin and Gavin Moynihan have their work cut out to make the cut after they both shot 73. Leona Maguire is getting ready to ramp up her rookie season again, she explains to Philip Reid why she won't be taking part in the LPGA Tour's resumption in Ohio next week, but will resume competitive tour life in Scotland, with back-to-back weeks at the Scottish Open and the AIG Women's British Open next month.
As expected, Ireland's two postponed games in the 2020 Six Nations at home to Italy and away to France are set to go ahead on October 24th and 31st respectively, with the latter date also pencilled in for the Wales-Scotland and Italy-England games. On Wednesday, Pro 14 organisers also confirmed the revised finale to the 2019-20 tournament, which resumes with two weeks of derbies in Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy. The playoffs will almost certainly see some element of cross-border travel in the shape of at least one semi-final involving Edinburgh and an Irish province. Britain and France have not been included in the Government's green list for travel, however the respective unions and tournament organisers remain hopeful that this will not affect the completion of the Pro14, Champions Cup and Six Nations.
Meanwhile Croke Park is preparing for potentially its most demanding schedule since the venue was rebuilt nearly 20 years ago. Stadium director Peter McKenna says that matches will be restricted to three per weekend to have the pitch in optimum condition for the All-Ireland finals.
