“Some people think football is a matter of life and death… I can assure them it’s much more serious than that.” During these perilous and seemingly doom-laden days, Bill Shankly’s famous quote will doubtless come across as hyperbolic drivel to some, and who can blame them. But as a summary of, and insight into the intense, all-consuming passion for the game, that nugget still hits the spot. Perhaps, never more so than today – Newcastle vs Sunderland, one of the great footballing derbies.

As with most bitter rivalries in sport the real tale began off the pitch – this North East battle was forged from a history of economic competition, jealousy and animosity that has simmered throughout the centuries, coming to a boil when these two teams play against each other.

“It’s probably the most intense derby game there is,” said Newcastle manager Eddie Howe. “The North East is a hotbed for football, obsessed with the game. This is an intense rivalry, one that we respect.”

Which brings us to today’s match. Having respect for the “intense rivalry” is something that Newcastle fans accused their team of not having in December when, thanks to a Nick Woltemade own goal, Sunderland won 1-0. That in and of itself was bad enough if you are of a black and white persuasion, but it was the manner of the defeat as much as the loss itself that rankled with the Newcastle faithful – to use a sporting cliché (apologies to the literary types reading this…) they didn’t show up.

That makes today all the more intriguing. Throw that in with the fact today’s hosts cannot afford to lose again to their arch-rivals, their 7-2 midweek defeat to Barcelona, Sunderland’s faltering form and you have a recipe for a passionate, no-holds-barred battle where, for some, for a few hours at least, the result matters more than life itself.

Pereira said: “He deserves the national team but it’s not my decision. I respect it but he has the quality and the character to be there.

“He is a fantastic player. He is a little bit sad and disappointed in this moment but these are the moments in our lives when we need to be stronger and come back to the fight.”

Forest have been in this situation before, experiencing three scraps against the drop in four seasons since their promotion in 2022.

Last season’s stirring campaign under Nuno Espirito Santo, with the team eventually finishing seventh, has been the outlier from the norm.

Could their previous dances with danger prove the difference in this year’s relegation scrap?

This is certainly a new experience for Tottenham. Despite their difficult season there was a clear sense of unity and it was not until the end that the atmosphere threatened to become remotely toxic.

There was also a pre-match video on the screens which included a rousing message from captain Cristian Romero who said “we’ll fight for everything, all together.”

Tottenham must now consider whether keeping Tudor in charge damages their chances of scrambling to safety.

After signs of encouragement against Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, they were the better team here in a scrappy first-half.

Mathys Tel was a frequent menace on the left and Tottenham were almost handed a 16th-minute lead when Forest’s forward Igor Jesus headed a huge Kevin Danso throw against his own post.

Yet it was Jesus who provided the pivotal moment on the stroke of half-time, forcing a save from Guglielmo Vicario with a hooked shot on the turn.

From the corner, the £16.5m signing from Botafogo was unmarked in the middle of a busy penalty area to nod Neco Williams’s delivery into the opposite corner.

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‘A surprise, a shock, an absolute pleasure and unexpected’ is how Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight describes it feeling, watching the TV show becoming a true global phenomenon.

Starring Cillian Murphy as the fearsome titular gang from Small Heath’s leader Tommy Shelby, the series has moved from BBC Two to BBC One and now to Netflix, which is directly involved with producing new follow-up feature film, The Immortal Man.

And after a run in select UK cinemas, it’s now hit the streaming platform.

For the Birmingham-born writer, 66, it’s been an ‘incremental’ process he’s been able to track through various friends and family members’ holidays over the years to Spain, Buenos Aires and China, all of which featured a Peaky Blinders-themed bar.

‘The idea that it’s gone really around the world, to places you wouldn’t expect – a few months ago in Afghanistan, some young men were arrested for being dressed as Peaky Blinders – for me, it’s felt very personal, because it was about Birmingham, and was about my family and stuff like that,’ Knight explains.

‘What it does do for me, ultimately, is it gives me confidence that you can do something that is just what you think is good – and if you’re lucky, the world will agree.’

And the world has agreed plenty with Knight since then, as the man recently picked to pen the latest James Bond movie, to be directed by Denis Villeneuve, after the successes of his other popular programmes like SAS: Rogue Heroes, A Thousand Blows and – most recently, also for Netflix – House of Guinness.

The Immortal Man also reunites Knight, Murphy and other original cast members like Sophie Rundle with director Tom Harper, who helmed some of Peaky’s very first episodes in 2013 and is delighted to finally return.

‘It meant that when I came back, we already had this sort of springboard from which to catapult us into the movie,’ Harper shares, who directed the likes of The Woman in Black: Angel of Death (starring late Peaky alumna Helen McCrory) and 2019’s The Aeronauts.

‘Peaky Blinders has exploded since what it was then, and so to get the opportunity to come full circle and tell this chapter in the life of Tommy Shelby as a film, and fulfil some of the ambition and the cinematic quality that we always had in the series, but as part of this, at this at this point, is wonderful.’

New cast members for the movie, reflecting Peaky’s pedigree, include Tim Roth, Rebecca Ferguson and Barry Keoghan.

A proud son of Brum, Knight is delighted to have both re-invented Birmingham’s reputation among the British and promoted its profile worldwide with Peaky Blinders.

‘People from Birmingham tell me that when they go abroad and they start speaking, people say ‘Peaky Blinders’ as the first thing, which is great! I remember saying to one of my brothers, “I’m going to try and make the Birmingham accent sexy,” and he said, “Good luck with that!” But, you know, I think Cillian manages it.’

It’s felt very personal because it was about Birmingham and my family

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The Irish Oscar winner ably manages the notoriously tricky accent, when the same can’t always be said for his co-stars, and told Metro he was also determined to make it ‘cool’ rather than the butt of jokes – which is something Knight has also managed for the city as a whole.

‘That’s one of the things about the whole process that I’m very proud of,’ he adds.

Why do audiences idolise Tommy Shelby?

Tommy is, to all intents and purposes, a villain – he intimidates, beats and even kills many people while leading a gang that hides razor blades in the peaks of their trademark flat-caps (historians classify this as urban myth, but Knight disputes this, citing family testimony).

But audiences nevertheless adore him.

‘I always think of him as a good man doing bad things for a good reason, or at least a reason that he believes he’s good. So I think as an audience, you can empathise with him,’ muses Knight. ‘But I find it astonishing; I remember watching a scene where Arthur [Tommy’s troubled brother, played by Pau Anderson] attacks a completely innocent Quaker with a razor blade, and it’s completely unprovoked. And the person I was watching with said, “Oh, poor Arthur!”’

Peaky Blinders sits in the grey area, where two things can be true at once, agrees Knight.

‘For example, in the first series we had Campbell [played by Sam Neill], who was just judgement – judging everything that everybody did – but he was a baddie. He was right though, all the things he was saying were right, but he was the baddie.’

‘It’s important if the drama can explore how people have broken, the trauma that they go through, the violence that they’re subjugated to, and they then pass on to other people. That’s interesting, you know?’ Harper adds.

From the intensive research Knight has done for Peaky Blinders across the years, which has spanned 1919 and the aftermath of World War One to the dark days of the Blitz in the 1940s now with The Immortal Man, he classifies what his father and uncles told him as the most important aspects for shaping the Peaky universe as a whole.

‘My dad telling me about running barefoot when he was about eight years old with a message for the Peaky Blinders – knocks on the door, door opens, smell of cigarette smoke and whisky, and there’s a round table covered in money and seven men dressed immaculately with razor blades and guns, drinking whisky out of jam jars. And it’s just that thing that here are men who will do everything for their appearance, but they won’t buy any glasses or cups! That, for me, is research.’

Knight knew ‘from the beginning’ that he wanted to tie up the Peaky Blinders – or at least, this generation – during World War Two, given Tommy’s ongoing struggles with the previous war, even if specifics changed over the years.

‘When you get into the Peaky spirit, lots of stuff comes. But I think in the end, when the cast started coming together, and when we knew we’d got Tom – every series since series one the first question was, can we get Tom back? And he was always busy – that’s when you start to think more we can be quite expansive.’

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is now streaming exclusively on Netflix.

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The sun was fun while it lasted!

After blue skies and sunny spells this weekend, the weather forecast suggests a return to wintry weather this week.

According to the Met Office, a “weakening band of cloud and patchy rain” will move southeast across the UK, followed by sunny spells and scattered showers in the north and some of these showers may turn wintry over higher ground.

The forecaster has said that a shift to a cooler north‑westerly flow will bring a drop in temperature and more unsettled weather, “including some hill snow in the north and brisk winds at times”.

READ MORE: Northern Ireland weather latest as snow forecast in parts of UK after sunny weekendREAD MORE: New ‘joyous’ series follows expert judges on the hunt for Northern Ireland’s ‘Greatest Garden’

This is what the Met Office has forecast for Northern Ireland:

Monday:

A chilly, but dry and bright start, before rain spreads from the northwest in the afternoon. Light winds at first but fresh to strong southwest winds by the afternoon. Maximum temperature 11 °C.

Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday:

Windy on Tuesday, with some heavy rain before clearing to showers through the afternoon. Colder northwest winds Wednesday with wintry showers. Dry and bright Thursday morning, before rain spreads east.

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Ross Wilson attacked the woman on three occasions while being abusive and controlling for around five years of their relationship.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 36-year-old was medically discharged from the military due to the impact his service had on his mental health.

Annelise Haugstad, prosecuting, said: “The relationship was experiencing difficulties primarily because the defendant was using alcohol and that led to arguments where he would blame her.”

The court heard how Wilson grabbed the victim by the throat twice while verbally abusing her and on one occasion it happened in front of the victim’s son.

Ms Haugstad on another occasion the defendant punched her in the face when she refused to go out during the night to get him more booze.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said his behaviour had turned her life upside down.

She said: “I became unable to make simple decision for myself without seeking reassurance that it was the right one.”

Wilson, of Longlands Drive, Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside, pleaded guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour between December 2017 and November 2022.

Cainan Lonsdale, mitigating, said his client had began drinking heavily during Covid as he struggled with his mental health as a result as his time in the military.

He added: “He has always shown a degree of remorse in this case and when I was reading his messages to him, he asked me to stop and became quite upset by that.

“He understands that the victim didn’t have the same luxury, He is ashamed by the way he spoke to her at that time and how he treated her during the relationship.”

Mr Lonsdale said the former serviceman was in the process of securing a place at a residential rehabilitation centre.

Recorder Ayesha Smart sentenced Wilson to 15 months in custody suspended for 15 months and ordered him to attend 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

“This offence took place over a prolonged period of five years,” she said. “It was committed in an intimate relationship, which started off well, but soured particularly when you consumed alcohol.

“You assaulted your partner three times during that period.”

Wilson was ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation and court costs.

He was also made subject to a 15-year restraining order.

South Korea’s Kospi plunged 5% and Asian shares fell sharply after the U.S. and Iran threatened to target crucial infrastructure as the Iran war entered its fourth week.

In early Asian trading on Monday, Kospi tumbled as much as 6.3% before paring back some losses, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 by 4.3% to 51,088.30.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.8% to 24,580.11, while the Shanghai Composite index was down nearly 2% to 3,879.86.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that the U.S. will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global oil supply, was not fully opened within 48 hours. Iran on Sunday said if the threat was followed through, it would retaliate by attacking key energy and infrastructure assets.

Gloriously, it is anything but. It’s an open-armed place, one that welcomes anyone and everyone, so long as they’ll buy a drink. Lemonade is permitted; tomato juice raises a wry eyebrow. The Wrotham does, however, love its rhythm and blues; it loves music of all kinds, from wailing harmonicas to screaming guitars and sea shanties, to men in denim doing their best Leonard Cohen. You might hear Mark Knopfler’s Local Hero being given a workout. Apt.

He will be cremated with no service or mourners before his ashes are taken to a top secret location

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Soham murderer Ian Huntley will have no funeral, with his body to be cremated and his ashes scattered in secret.

The child killer died earlier this month following a savage attack in jail, where he had been serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for murdering best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002.

The 52-year-old died on March 7 after he was allegedly bludgeoned with a metal bar in a workshop at HMP Frankland on February 26 by a fellow inmate. Huntley, who never regained consciousness after suffering head injuries, had previously survived multiple attacks. His life support was switched off on March 6 and he died the following day.

Now The Sun reports he will be cremated with no service or mourners before his ashes are taken to a top secret location with his family declining a state-funded funeral out of respect for his victims’ families.

On funding cremations, the latest Ministry of Justice guidelines for prisons stipulate: “Prisons must offer to pay a contribution towards reasonable funeral expenses of up to £3,000. The only exceptions to this are where the family has a pre-paid funeral plan or is entitled to claim a grant from other government departments e.g., Department of Work and Pensions.”

On funding cremations, the latest Ministry of Justice guidelines for prisons stipulate: “Prisons must offer to pay a contribution towards reasonable funeral expenses of up to £3,000. The only exceptions to this are where the family has a pre-paid funeral plan or is entitled to claim a grant from other government departments e.g., Department of Work and Pensions.”

Reasonable fees would include undertaker charges, coffin expenses, hearse hire, cremation or burial costs and religious or belief leader payments. The contribution cannot cover headstones, floral tributes, obituary advertisements or wake expenses.

A source told The Sun: “There will be no service, no memorial, no mourners, nothing. It is as it should be. There will be no funeral. How could there be after what he did?

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“He will simply be cremated and his ashes handed to his family. They have always been utterly appalled by what he did. It was unforgivable and, for those reasons, they could not in good conscience hold a funeral.”

His ashes will reportedly be scattered in secrecy amid fears of reprisals.

It comes after Huntley’s daughter Samantha Bryan said the killer should “burn in hell” and didn’t deserve a funeral. She said: “We should flush his ashes down the toilet.”