Sligo Rovers V Shamrock Rovers, Airtricity League

The champions elect finish their season with a poetic bookend as they host the, formerly dominant, Hoops on the night they collect their first league trophy for 35 years.

While Sligo have won this year"s title with a wonderful style of passing football Shamrock Rovers have fallen from grace and finished a disappointing fourth. For the Sligo fans that will be at the sold out Showgrounds on Friday night there will be no better way to cap their brilliant year with a win over their former tormentors from Tallaght.

For many neutrals there has been nobody more deserving of this year"s title than Sligo and during a time when the league is, wrongly, derided for being a poor standard of fotball there are many who take great pleasure in Sligo, a team who employ a quick, skilful passing game, being the flagship side of domestic football.

For the many who think League of Ireland football is nothing to be proud of it should be surprising to tune in on Friday to watch Ireland"s best club side play in front of a packed house.

Friday 7.00 RTE 1
GAA All star awards

After another exciting year of gaelic football and hurling we have the annual ceremony to announce the top fifteen (15) players from each sport as the GAA"s biggest names gather for the annual all star awards.
The football all stars have been announced this morning and the fifteen hurlers will be made public before the big event, but the big moments of suspense on the night will be the announcement of the footballer and hurler of the year.

For the hurler of the year most people are asking will it be Kilkenny"s Henry Shefflin or Galway"s Joe Canning, but some in the Newstalk sports department are telling anyone who will listen that the award should go to the third nominee- Kilkenny"s Paul Murphy. Murphy has been almost perfectly consistent this year, dominating all who came up agaisnt him in both league and championship and while he remains the long shot against the record breaking Sheffflin and the thrilling Canning there is a chance that Murphy might just provide the biggest surprise of the hurling year.

It"s a bit of a schedule clash with the soccer but the All Star awards wraps up just after kick off in Sligo, so you can fit it all in.

Sunday 1.30 Sky Sports 1
Everton V Liverpool

The Merseyside derby is rarely a dull way to spend a couple of hours and with the odd situation of Everton being the favourites going into the game there is every chance of a classic derby offering from the two clubs of Merseyside.

Liverpool need a turn around, Brendan Rodgers has found his philosophy difficult to impose on his side although there have been encouraging signs of late, the first home win of the season last weekend against reading will serve as a starting point from which to head into the derby. Everton, conversely, are enjoying a start that has exceeded all expectations. There have already been whispers on Merseyside of a push for a Champions League place but while that is a test that has a long way to run there is no doubting a win at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon would serve as a significant checkpoint on their journey to that goal.
Aside from the foobtall, following the emotional findings of the Hillsborough report last month, and Everton"s wonderful response in the aftermath as they supported their neighbours as brothers rather than rivals, this should also be a memorable occasion off the pitch too.