Northern Ireland Men's Football Team

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Former Northern Ireland midfielder Jim Magilton said manager Michael O'Neill's decision to sign a contract extension "gives everyone the opportunity to really focus and try to qualify for a major tournament".

It was announced on Wednesday that O'Neill had signed a new four-year contract extension at NI to keep him at the helm until 2032.

O'Neill, who has been NI manager for 11 years over two spells, was appointed interim Blackburn Rovers boss in February and had been combining this role with his position at Northern Ireland.

Despite being offered the full-time position, it was announced earlier in the month that he would not be taking on the Blackburn job on a permanent basis and would continue in his position at NI.

"It's marvellous news for Michael and Northern Ireland supporters," Magilton told BBC Sport NI.

"That consistency gives everyone the opportunity to really focus and try to qualify for a major tournament.

"For younger players coming through, to know the manager is around and the opportunity will exist because he has shown that he will give youth a chance. There are lots of good young players coming through."

The 56-year-old won five, drew five and lost five of his 15 games in interim charge as Blackburn finished 20th in the Championship and avoided relegation by five points.

Magilton added that he was "surprised" that the second-tier club didn't interest O'Neill longer term.

"I am surprised that it didn't go further," he replied when asked if he thought that O'Neill would make the switch to Blackburn permanently.

"When you go into the Championship club, especially at that time when it was all risk, I was surprised there was not further conversations for Michael to stay in that role.

"It is excellent news, that level of cohesion and consistency."

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Northern Ireland teenager Kieran Morrison has signed a new contract at Liverpool.

The 19-year-old, who joined the Reds in 2019, impressed during the recent U21s campaign and was nominated for Premier League 2 Player of the Season.

Morrison has also made two senior appearances for Arne Slot's side in cup competitions.

The versatile winger captained the U21s for a period of the season and netted 14 goals and registered four assists in PL2.

At international level, he is involved in Michael O'Neill's squad to face Guinea and France in June's international friendlies but is yet to make a senior appearance.

"It's been a massive improvement from last year. That was my goal this year – just to impact myself and PL2 as much as I can," Morrison said.

"I think I've done quite well. As a team, we wanted to get further in the play-offs but we've come a long way as a team, especially with Rob [Page], the new manager, and obviously me becoming captain during it.

"It just shows how much we've come [along] since the beginning of the season. So, I'm really proud of my performances and the team's performances.

"I always set targets and this season I feel like I've accomplished a lot of my targets. So, hopefully next season goes just as well."

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Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill has been appointed to the Fifa Technical Study Group [TSG] for this summer's World Cup.

O'Neill is named as part of a 10-strong group that also includes Otto Addo, Tobin Heath, Jurgen Klinsmann, Jayne Ludlow, Gilberto Silva, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Paulo Wanchope, Aron Winter and Pablo Zabaleta.

The team of experts will be guided by former Arsenal manager and current Fifa Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger to provide deeper insights into each of the 104 games at this summer's tournament in North America through the Fifa Training Centre social media accounts and YouTube channel.

"The Technical Study Group helps identify trends in the game, prepare future generations for football's development and contribute to making the sport more exciting by highlighting the qualities players will need in the future," said Wenger.

"With an unprecedented level of high-quality data, the TSG will be able to describe, analyse and interpret what is happening on the pitch in a way that inspires both technical experts and football fans.

"We are not only collecting more data than before but also trying to strike the right balance between technical expertise and data. At the same time, we want to share our technical observations in real time during the tournament."

The TSG will study each game from a unique tactical position, either at the respective stadium or from a performance suite in Miami, with access to six video angles and thousands of data points live during each match.

TSG members will also select the tournament awards.

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Northern Ireland legends Marissa Callaghan and Gareth McAuley will be inducted into the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Hall of Fame.

Callaghan and McAuley will join a host of established names in the Hall of Fame such as George Best, Harry Gregg, David Healy and Steven Davis.

Former Northern Ireland midfielder Callaghan captained Northern Ireland at the Euro 2022 finals - a first major tournament for the women's side.

The midfielder retired from football this year after a career that saw her earn 91 international and win two Women's Premiership titles with Cliftonville, in 2022 and an invincible year in 2024.

"It's an honour to join the NIFWA Hall of Fame alongside so many famous names from the world of football," said Callaghan, who will be the first women's player to receive the honour at Sunday's annual awards.

"The award is not just a reflection of my efforts, but the support and help of all my team-mates and coaches over the years."

The former Cliftonville midfielder is joined in the Hall of Fame by McAuley, who won 80 caps for Northern Ireland between 2005 and 2018.

McAuley scored one of the most famous goals in the history of Northern Ireland football in the historic Euro 2016 win over Ukraine in Lyon.

At club level, McAuley made his name in the Irish League with Crusaders and Coleraine before turning out for Lincoln City, Leicester City, Ipswich Town, West Bromwich Albion and Rangers.

"It's very pleasing and an honour to be inducted into the Football Writers' Hall of Fame," McAuley said.

"The Euros was ten years ago, and I've been retired nearly seven years, so to be remembered and recognised in this way is really humbling."

Joel Bell
BBC Sport NI

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Northern Ireland defender Terry Devlin insists ''there's a lot of things we can improve on'' after their hard-fought 1-1 friendly draw with Wales on Tuesday night.

Jamie Donley opened the scoring for Northern Ireland before Wales drew level just after half-time through Sorba Thomas.

After making his debut last March against Switzerland, Devlin is delighted with the experience he has gained over the last few days under Michael O'Neill, after starting against Italy and in Tuesday's draw in Cardiff.

''A lot of people thought it was going to be a pointless or dead rubber game, but for what it was, it was a really intense and hard-fought game between the two sides and it was a good experience for a lot of us players,'' Devlin told BBC Sport NI.

''Wales are a top nation, they've a lot of really good top players. They've loads of players in the Premier League and top Championship level players.

''For us to be level or match them for the 45 or 90 [minutes], it's a really good thing for us to take. We can still be better, there's a lot of things we can improve on, we're a young squad and I'm sure we'll definitely do that.''

Donley's goal against Wales was his second for his country after he netted his first international goal back in November against Luxembourg and Devlin was pleased for his teammate.

''Jamie [Donley] is a top lad, he works really hard and he's a top player and it's massive for him to get that [goal],'' Devlin added.

''That's two goals in two camps now, that jersey's his at the minute and he just needs to keep hold of it and keep scoring goals for us.''

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist in Cardiff

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill praised the "character" of his side in Tuesday's 1-1 draw in Wales.

Both Wales and Northern Ireland lost their respective World Cup play-offs to set up the friendly that nobody wanted.

Jamie Donley scored a deserved opener but Wales hit back less than 60 seconds after the restart as Sorba Thomas tucked home.

Eoin Toal and Callum Marshall had chances to snatch victory, but it was the response to the equaliser which impressed O'Neill as his young side bounced back from the World Cup defeat by Italy with a solid performance in Cardiff.

"The team has good resilience because at the end of the day, as much as we sat deep and it was difficult for us to get out in the last 20 minutes, we still had an opportunity to win the game," said O'Neill, who also hit back at concerns over a conflict of interest with his dual role with Blackburn Rovers.

"To come away, with the age profile of the team and where the team is at this minute at time, and not be beaten here was a real positive."

O'Neill added it was "a good night's work for us" as he "asked a huge amount" of young players in a second half that was littered with substitutions, but Northern Ireland deserved their draw in Cardiff.

He handed a debut to 19-year-old defender Tom Atcheson, who plays under him at Blackburn Rovers, but Liverpool's Kieran Morrison did not make his senior bow as O'Neill made eight substitutions.

"He's a very young player. I think he's shown up well in the camp all week," O'Neill said on Atcheson.

"We would have liked to have got Kieran Morrison on the pitch as well at some point, but you wouldn't have been able to do it without having to take a sub that you put on, off again, without asking someone to play in a position which was totally alien to them.

"Given the number of substitutions we made, we're pleased with the response we got from the players."