'Nights you dream of' - Stewart recalls facing Red Star

When Larne step out at Inver Park to face Red Star Belgrade in the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie on Tuesday, they will follow in the footsteps of another Irish League club who took on the decorated European giants in their pomp 35 years ago.

Red Star began their defence of the European Cup they won the previous season by defeating then Irish League champions Portadown 8-0 on aggregate back in the autumn of 1991.

The first leg, played in Szeged in Hungary rather than in Belgrade because of the deteriorating security situation in then Yugoslavia, saw Portadown lose 4-0.

The second leg at Shamrock Park ended in the same scoreline.

The European Cup preceded the Champions League as the continent’s premier club competition and featured only the champions from the competing countries in an open draw.

The Portadown team which celebrated back-to-back domestic league titles in 1990 and 1991 included long-serving goalkeeper Mickey Keenan, defender Philip Major, midfielders Martin Russell and Paul Doolin, plus renowned Scottish strike duo Stevie Cowan and Sandy Fraser.

The central defensive partnership of Alfie Stewart and Brian Strain also played a key part in the success enjoyed by the Mid Ulster side, who were managed by legendary Irish League boss Ronnie McFall.

Speaking to BBC Sport NI’s Joel Bell, Stewart recalled discovering his club’s opponents courtesy of a then popular television text service.

“Back in the day the only way of finding out who you were playing in the draw was to switch on to Ceefax and that was how I found out,” he said.

“I almost fainted when I found out it was Red Star Belgrade, the European champions, but you quickly switch into excited mode as it’s a chance in a million.

“To go to Yugoslavia as it was then before the break-up of the Balkan States, was something to look forward to.”

Stewart had also played in Europe with former club Glentoran, before enjoying further “special” adventures with Portadown.

“Even though we were playing across the border, the Serbians had come across in great numbers and they were very loud and very hostile,” he explained of the away leg in Hungary.

“It made the occasion a bit more difficult but it’s always great walking out into an atmosphere like that as a footballer. Those are the nights that you dream of.

“When you stand beside these guys and they’re 6’3” or 6’4”, you were facing supreme athletes with sheer power and pace and it was a challenge.

“People have asked me over the years, what’s it like when you play against those elite full-time players and it’s simply this - they think quicker, they run quicker, they’re stronger.

“You were apprehensive, but not afraid, because my attitude was to embrace it. You’re in awe of them but you have a job to do and you don’t want to let yourself down.”

The Ports defender felt a four-goal reverse against the best team in Europe represented a creditable outcome.

“We came out at the end of the night having lost 4-0 after conceding two late goals but we were extremely proud of how we performed on the night and met the challenge.

“Sinisa Mihajlovic went on from Red Star to play most of his career in Italy with Lazio and Sampdoria. He was something special and he scored two late free-kicks from outside the box.

“When you saw those free-kicks being taken from 30 yards out you probably thought that you were safe but this guy, he ended his career being recognised as one of the greatest dead ball specialists that the game had ever seen. He stood out.”

The second leg at Shamrock Park was a memorable occasion, with 1991 European Golden Boot winner Darko Pancev among the goalscorers for the illustrious visitors.

“There was great excitement. It was a tremendous night for the fans, a tremendous reward for their support,” reflected Stewart.

“To have the European champions playing at Shamrock Park it is something that will never happen again, probably at any Irish League ground.

“Darko Pancev, who moved to AC Milan a year after, he was scoring goals for fun in the Yugoslav league and moved to Italy, which at that time was the place to be just as the Premier League is now. He was a fantastic striker.”

Current Irish League champions Larne will host Red Star in the first leg of their tie on Tuesday, 21 July (20:00 BST), with the second leg away from home on Wednesday, 29 July (19:00 BST).

Stay or go - at 28, Rashford faces big Man Utd call

Marcus Rashford spent last season on loan at Barcelona

Marcus Rashford’s World Cup ended with a considered and thoughtful social media post, issued in the aftermath of England’s amazing 6-4 third-place play-off victory over France in Miami.

Disappointments are guaranteed in football, he said, before opening out in a more positive vein and stating firmly: “Keep believing in us. Our time will come.”

He added: “Now it’s time for me to rest, reflect, spend some quality time with family and friends, and come back a better version of myself.”

‘Reflect’ is the big word in that overview.

At 28, Rashford is moving into what should be the prime years of his career.

He has just won his first league title, La Liga with Barcelona, has 77 England caps and featured in six out of eight games as Thomas Tuchel’s side delivered the country’s best World Cup performance since 1966.

But in reality, a large part of what Rashford will be reflecting on with his family - some of whom are also key figures in terms of guiding his career - is whether his club future lies at Manchester United.

Marcus Rashford scored 14 goals in 49 appearances for Barcelona in the 2025-26 campaign

Rashford is contracted to Manchester United until 2028. His salary of £325,000 a week makes him the club’s top earner at a time when minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is trying to stay on top of salary costs, which are, by some distance, the club’s highest expenditure.

Barcelona had an option, in the loan deal they agreed for Rashford last season, to turn it into a permanent transfer for £26m.

As expected, that deadline passed in the middle of June without it being activated.

There was another clause in Rashford’s contract that allowed other clubs - Liverpool and Manchester City excepted - to buy him for £40m, which expired earlier in July. As expected, no-one triggered that either.

Sources close to the player felt it was illogical to think a club would come in and offer more than Barcelona would have had to pay.

With England’s World Cup campaign at an end, Rashford is now entitled to a three-week break.

Unless the timings are altered, or his situation changes, he will return to Manchester United just as they begin a six-day training camp in the Republic of Ireland, scheduled around an historic meeting with old rivals Leeds at Croke Park on 12 August.

Suggestions around Rashford have been that he is relaxed about the prospect of returning to training at United.

For a start, there is not the same confrontational relationship between the player and his coach.

Ruben Amorim fell out with the forward within weeks of his arrival from Sporting Lisbon. Amorim eventually exiled him, which triggered a loan move to Aston Villa.

Then the head coach put Rashford in his ‘bomb squad’, along with Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, Tyrell Malacia and Jadon Sancho, when pre-season training began last summer.

The other four players have all now left the club.

Amorim’s replacement, Michael Carrick, is a former team-mate of Rashford’s. He has also been his coach and was, briefly, his manager, following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal in 2021. The pair are said to get on well.

Carrick’s only public statement around Rashford, towards the end of last season, was conciliatory in nature, which is in keeping with his general personality.

He is so far yet to be asked what his stance is around the player returning to the fold.

For their part, United are sticking to their refusal to renegotiate a deal with Barcelona on reduced terms or consider a second loan to the Catalan giants.

It is not clear what interest there is in Rashford at the Nou Camp given Barca have already signed England wide-man Anthony Gordon and are about to bring in Germany forward Karim Adeyemi from Borussia Dortmund.

The consistency of United’s messaging is being articulated in a summer where they are keen to prove they will not be bullied into overpaying to get deals over the line.

That financial discipline may have consequences - while the feeling was Elliot Anderson would have joined Manchester City anyway, United did not countenance paying the £116m Nottingham Forest eventually sold him for.

The same is true of Mateus Fernandes and his £85m switch from West Ham to Tottenham.

Nevertheless, Manchester United’s enhanced use of data through director Michael Sansoni and his dedicated team means the club feel bullish about their chances of landing alternative targets who offer better value.

Marcus Rashford set up one of Bukayo Saka’s three goals as England beat France 6-4 on Saturday

Clearly just as United need active sellers to buy from, they need buyers so they can offload those players they do not want.

In Rashford’s case, there are a limited number of clubs globally who could match his current salary. And where a club are interested, the player has to want to join them.

Judging by his recent social media post, he would not do anything to jeopardise his England place.

BBC Sport has also been told of some Premier League clubs he would not be keen to move to.

So where will Rashford be when the transfer window closes on 1 September? Currently, the likeliest answer, by some distance, is Manchester United.

After that: Any Spanish club, any Turkish club, any German club. The vagueness there underlines the current lack of market for the 15th highest scorer in United’s history, with 138 goals - someone who is only 17 short of a place in the top 10.

There are plenty, including former captain Gary Neville, who feel Rashford’s time at Old Trafford is over and there should be no reconciliation.

In the end though, it may have to happen - and not everyone would be disappointed.

“A fit and focused Marcus Rashford has the ability to be one of the best players,” said Rashford’s friend Sam Smith - the Wrexham forward who scored the winner in their pre-season victory over Carrick’s team in Helsinki on Saturday - when speaking to the United We Stand podcast.

“He has everything.”

“He has had a difficult time at United and getting away from it all was a good thing.”

“I don’t know what is going to happen but as his friend, I hope he comes back and proves how good a player he was, how good he can be and starts scoring goals again.”

World Cup error will make Lammens stronger - Heaton

Tom Heaton is backing Manchester United team-mate Senne Lammens to emerge as a stronger character from his World Cup disappointment.

Lammens had been back-up to Thibaut Courtois throughout the tournament until the veteran Belgium goalkeeper was injured 19 minutes from the end of the quarter-final against Spain.

The 24-year-old had barely touched the ball before he spilled Pau Cubarsi’s shot late in the game, which allowed Arsenal’s Mikel Merino to steer home and give Spain a 2-1 victory.

Lammens was distraught at the final whistle and Heaton has spoken to the youngster, who was outstanding at United last season after arriving as a relative unknown from Royal Antwerp in preference to Argentina’s Emi Martinez, for £18.1m.

“Yes, I spoke to him,” said Heaton after Manchester United’s opening pre-season defeat by Wrexham in Helsinki.

“It was obviously a challenging moment for him, but that’s the life of a goalkeeper.

“As soon as you put the gloves on and go between the sticks, you have to be ready to deal with that.

“He’ll be stronger for it. I think his personality is fantastic for a goalkeeper, so no issues there. As I say, I honestly think it can help him in the long run.”

Lammens is now on a three-week break before returning to pre-season training.

It means he should return in the first week of August and, in theory, be available for the Gothenburg encounter with Paris St-Germain on 8 August.

Despite the criticism Lammens received in Belgium for his error, at United, confidence in the youngster remains strong.

Karl Darlow, 35, was signed as back-up to Lammens on 14 July and while Heaton, 40, still views himself as a player after signing a one-year deal in the summer, his last competitive senior appearance was in February 2023.

“I highly doubt Senne will be going into it with fear or worrying about what may happen,” said Heaton.

“That can happen at any point. Literally every time you cross the foot over the earth. If that was your mindset, I’d be inclined to say it’s more likely to happen.

“Goalkeeper is a position where if something goes wrong, it’s going to end in a goal. Goals can change games and cause you to lose. You have to be realistic about that.

“It is tough, but Senne is very strong mentally. I saw that from him as a young goalkeeper coming into Manchester United and dealing with it unbelievably well.”

Chelsea agree record £117m deal for Villa's Rogers

Morgan Rogers has been a key part of Aston Villa’s squad for two and a half seasons

Chelsea have agreed a club record £117m deal to sign England midfielder Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa.

The 23-year-old will sign a six-year contract at Stamford Bridge, with an option for a further year.

Rogers will have a medical on Monday after returning from international duty with England at the 2026 World Cup.

The deal would set a new transfer record for an English player, eclipsing the £116m fee Manchester City agreed with Nottingham Forest for another Three Lions midfielder in Elliot Anderson earlier this summer.

Rogers becomes the most expensive signing in Chelsea’s history, surpassing the £107m spent on Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez in 2023.

The move comes as new Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso shapes his squad before the new Premier League season.

Rogers, who was previously on the books of Manchester City, joined Villa from Middlesbrough in February 2024 in a deal worth £8m, rising to £15m.

Due to a clause giving Middlesbrough 20% of any profit made by Villa for selling Rogers in the future, the Championship club will earn at least £20.4m from his transfer to Chelsea, depending on how many add-ons have been triggered at Villa Park.

Boro believe it is also an English record for the largest transfer sell-on fee.

Rogers scored 21 goals in 85 league appearances for Unai Emery’s men and was part of the team that won the Europa League last season.

He has made 22 senior England appearances, scoring once, and featured in seven games at this summer’s World Cup.

Rogers is the second Villa midfielder to depart this week following Youri Tielemans’ £35m move to Manchester United, but they have brought in Switzerland international Johan Manzambi in a deal worth more than £50m from Freiburg and lined up Wolves’ Joao Gomes for £38m.

Rogers has been a Chelsea target for more than two years, although the move coming now is something of a surprise given the club’s 10th-placed Premier League finish last season.

The deal underlines the club’s ability to bounce back from missing out on European football to sign a top target for London rivals Arsenal.

It also suggests Stamford Bridge remains an attractive destination for some of the Premier League’s leading talents.

The pressing question, though, is how Rogers will fit into the side, and what impact his arrival will have on star attacker Cole Palmer.

Rogers was one of the three England players to take a place in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad at Palmer’s expense.

That highlighted the similarities between the pair, but they could also play together, depending on the system employed by new manager Alonso.

The Spaniard has previously used both a back four and back five at his former clubs Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen respectively, and there remains uncertainty over his preferred approach just weeks into his tenure.

Rogers and Palmer are both capable of operating in a variety of attacking positions and will compete for minutes with Estevao Willian, Pedro Neto, Jamie Gittens and fellow summer signing Geovany Quenda.

Alejandro Garnacho is being sold to make way, but it remains a hefty group of options for a club playing only one game per week next season.

Off the pitch, Rogers and Palmer have described each other as best friends in football after progressing through Manchester City’s academy together.

Palmer’s famous “Cold Palmer” celebration was inspired by Rogers, who first did the pose as a Middlesbrough player.

The move may prompt further debate over ownership of the celebration, which has been trademarked in the UK’s Intellectual Property Office.

There will also be debate about who plays the number 10 role, yet it is a problem Alonso is likely to welcome.

How Villa's record signing Manzambi can spearhead new era

Johan Manzambi has scored six goals in 16 games for Switzerland - including three at the World Cup

It is a new era for Aston Villa - and Johan Manzambi will be one of the poster boys.

After ending a 30-year wait for a trophy with May’s Europa League triumph, Villa have broken their transfer record to sign the Switzerland midfielder in a deal worth more than £50m from Freiburg.

Newcastle were close to signing Manzambi last week only for Villa to step in and snatch him.

With Youri Tielemans joining Manchester United for £35m and Amadou Onana out with a knee injury until next year, Villa needed to bolster their midfield options.

They are also due to seal a £38m move for Wolves’ Joao Gomes - but it is 20-year-old Manzambi who represents the start of something different at Villa Park.

While Newcastle were hopeful of landing one of their top targets, their interest was always laced with caution.

Those close to the Magpies were surprised at why the confidence was not absolute - but after losing out to Liverpool for Víctor Munoz, having also seen Hugo Ekitike go to Anfield last year, Newcastle were nervous.

Their fears proved well founded as Manzambi wavered and Villa pounced.

He was being coveted by more than half of the Premier League and represents the start of a Villa refresh.

Manzambi had been on Villa’s watchlist since the start of last season, and there was always an expectation he would move this summer.

It is believed that Manzambi’s knee injury, which ruled him out of Switzerland’s last-16 win over Colombia and quarter-final defeat by Argentina at the World Cup, gave him time to decide his future amid Newcastle’s interest.

There is also an acceptance it was now or never for Villa as he could have been out of their price range if he moved elsewhere and succeeded, especially given the sharp rise at international level - playing just twice for Switzerland Under-21s before his senior elevation.

Having excelled in the Bundesliga and helped Freiburg to the Europa League final where they lost to Villa, the calculated risk to make him the club’s record signing is seen as one which is worth it.

His versatility - especially with Onana’s serious knee injury - makes him even more important.

Last term Manzambi - who won Europa League young player of the season - ranked first for 10-plus metre progressive carries (116) in the Bundesliga, shot-ending carries (13) and fouls won (78) as opponents tried to stop him.

He was the most fouled player in the Bundesliga and only Yan Diomande, Bazoumana Toure and Can Uzun were younger with more goals and assists in the division.

He was second for total take-ons (71), opposition half take-ons (52) and total carry progress (2,476 metres).

Last term Tielemans averaged 10 metres for his progressive carries with a total of 109, with Onana making just 75, while just three of Tielemans’ carries ended with a shot.

This was always going to be a vital summer for Villa.

After winning the Europa League and finishing fourth in the Premier League - securing Champions League football for the second time in three years - they should be in a position of strength.

Instead, Villa must trade to ensure they are compliant with the financial rules they feel have held them back.

In May they were fined 22.5m euros (£19.4m) by Uefa for a “significant breach” of its squad-cost rules for 2025 - although £12.9m is suspended.

Villa also face a restriction on the registration of new players on their squad list for the Champions League next season.

Their financial burden could be further eased by the sale of England’s Morgan Rogers, who is valued at more than £100m amid interest from champions Arsenal.

Villa will be able to sell but the financial rules make replacing their first-team stars harder.

They had the second-oldest squad in the Premier League last season and wanted to lower the overall age. It was one of the key objectives for president of football operations Roberto Olabe when he replaced Monchi last September.

Tielemans is 29 and moves to Old Trafford for pure profit after his free transfer from Leicester in 2023 while Lucas Digne, who turns 33 next week, is expected to return to Paris St-Germain.

The pair were two of Villa’s higher earners - and wages for loanees Douglas Luiz, Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho are also off the books.

Youri Tielemans scored Aston Villa’s opener in their Europa League final win over Freiburg

Evann Guessand and Leon Bailey are expected to leave and Lewis Dobbin has joined Southampton for £9m without making an appearance for the club.

That makes it easier to spend the money on Manzambi and Gomes but Villa must still walk a financial tightrope.

Emery has relied on trusted lieutenants but needs to refresh the squad, with at least one winger, two defenders and a striker wanted.

Of those at the club who started the Europa League final in May only Pau Torres, Rogers and Victor Lindelof were signed by Emery in his transformative three and a half years in charge.

There was the expectation the squad would evolve this summer - and players were braced for change - but while an extra midfield body would have been useful, Villa were not actively seeking big upheaval in the area.

Onana’s ACL injury while playing for Belgium against the USA this month shifted the plans and Tielemans’ departure accelerated them.

Villa wanted more physicality at left-back so the interest in AC Milan’s Pervis Estupinan is obvious especially when he knows Emery’s methods having played under him at Villarreal.

Emery cannot afford to wait for new recruits to get up to speed.

With a first trophy for three decades in the cabinet Villa have made the breakthrough - but they must still tread lightly.