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Who is Cole Dasilva? Baller League defender who came through Chelsea academy

COLE DASILVA rose through the ranks at Chelsea and the Wales national team youth set up.

But he will now ply his trade on a different stage as he lines up in the Baller League.

Chelsea's Cole Dasilva during a friendly match between Chelsea Under 18 and Exeter Under 18 at the Cobham Training Ground on 18th August 2015 in Cobham, England.  (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Chelsea’s Cole Dasilva came through the academy at Chelsea
Getty

KSI will run the six-a-side tournament as it heads to the UK, following on from a successful trial of the game in Germany.

Footballing icons such as Luis Figo and Gary Lineker will be managing sides in the Baller League.

Action will come live on Sky Sports from the Copper Box Arena in Stratford.

Former Chelsea academy graduate Cole Dasilva will play for Sidemen star Sharky’s side SDS FC.

Who is Cole Dasilva?

Born in Luton, the 25-year-old defender currently plays for Bishop’s Stortford in the Southern League Premier Central.

Cole, able to represent Wales, Brazil and England, won the Under-18 Premier League, FA Youth Cup and Uefa Youth League with Chelsea before signing a professional contract in 2016.

He didn’t make any appearances before a switch to Brentford in 2018, where he stayed until 2020 – again not making any appearances.

Dasilva switched England for Croatian club HNK Sibenik, where he played six games in the top flight.

He then returned to English football in 2022 and entered non-League.

He has had stops in the National League South but has spent recent seasons in step four.

Twins Rio, Cole and their older brother, Jay DaSilva, were signed to Chelsea’s academy in 2012 in a £1 million triple deal where the 12- and 13-year-olds left then-National league side Luton Town.

All three siblings failed to break into Chelsea’s first team, even though Jay helped the blues win the Uefa Youth League on two separate occasions and the FA Youth Cup three times.

Jay now stars for Coventry City in their battle for promotion to the Premier League.

When is Baller League and how can I watch it?

  • Baller League will begin on Monday, March 24.
  • The six-a-side competition has 12 teams and has six 30-minute matches every Monday.
  • There are also other rules that make it different to football.
  • The tournament will be aired on Sky Sports Mix and also available for streaming on YouTube and Twitch.
  • Coverage starts at 5pm with the first match kicking off at 5.35pm.
  • Alternatively, SunSport will live blog all the action as it happens.

What are the teams in Ballers League UK?

26ers – J’ardell Stirling, Bilal Sayoud, Sak Hassan, Kojo Apenteng, Marcel Lewis, Jordon Ibe, Matt Chizzum, Emmanuel Rowe, Justin Dass, Spike Stegel, Vladislav Platinov, Jack Crook.

Deportrio – Bakary Sako, Adam Dawson, Francis Gerald Mapolo, Zach Fagan, Marvin Sordell, Charlie Kuehn, Tommy Scott, Raphael Gas, Alex Dyer, Ruben Singale, Tristan Goodridge, Leo Serri.

FC Rules the World – Michael Ndiweni, Josh Harrop, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, Kevin Gonzalez, Oliver Bosworth, Karim Kamhouri, Erghis Pepy, Onuchi Oki, Yusuf Shentu, Alamiji Oluma, Sandro Kamara, Festus Chalet.

M7 FC – Jesse Waller-Lassen, Femi Akinwande, Stefan Ilic, Jean Belehouan, Toby Bull, Sam Fitzgerald, Arjun Young, Ramez Gonzalo, Arin Zaha, Lewis Garcia, Henry Wise, Zion Nditi.

MVPs United – Lorenzo Spinelli, Ashton Peltier, Jake Chambers Shaw, Ross Derham, Josh Misoki, James Canton, Alfie Matthew, Declan McCarthy, Jay Beckford, Joe Edwards, Dwayne Suel, Esteban Salgado.

N5 FC – Owen Locke, Adrian Mariappa, Brian Ly, Charlie Wakefield, Dayo Adekayo, Chris Arba, Imran Kahani, Michael Class, James Alabi, Troy Molunda, Freddie Berrati, Callum Charlton.

Santan FC – Michael Hill, Richard Kesey, Dominic Voss, Erick Kenco, Ranell McKenzie Lowes, Jamell Abou-Bakare, Rico Okinari, David Upu, Abdullah Gervardi, Jack Wilson, David Solidemi, Luka Valentine.

SDS FC – Bruno Andrade, Bayley Brown, Ody Alfa, Cole Da Silva, David Marques Castanho, Calvin Dickson, Big John, Camillo Astreppo, Finley Chadwick, Michael Felibe, Hussein Mahdi, Tyler Edmundson.

Trebol FC – Montel McKenzie, Vani Da Silva, Ciaran Clark, Isaac Modi, Ethan Oke, Reggie, Emi, Ryan Gorwell, Jordan Brown, Shani Omed, Aaron Steven, Nathan Bowen.

VZN FC – Henri Lansbury, Kurtice Herbert, Jerome Sinclair, Remy Mitchell, Montel McKenzie, Florian Kastrati, Michael Olive-Wigan, Barrell Mensah, Ethan McClear, Diego Dombaboni, Jami Kheresi, Luka Barusic.

Wembley Rangers – Domingos Pires, Check Fayum, Ben Long, Stuart Cook, Oliver Cannon, Juan Pablo, Ruben Junior, Luke Gambin, Kaylen Kofi, Braden Shaw, Joseph Diomande, Nabid Eshari.

Yanited – Kadell Daniel, Michael Hector, Mohammed Mahyoub, Remy Clerima, Percy Kiangebeni, Medy Elito, Max Pitman, Harry Cain, Henry O’Shea, Daniel Thompson, Daniel Woods, Pharrel Mensah.

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Shane Lowry on cusp of Official World Golf Ranking top 10 as he hits career-best position after Valspar Championship

OFFALY star Shane Lowry is on the cusp of the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking after Sunday’s final round at the Valspar Championship.

The 2019 Open champion’s putter went cold once again but he stayed cool from tee-to-green as he bagged his third top 10 of the PGA Tour season.

PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA - MARCH 22: Shane Lowry of Ireland prepares to play a shot on the first tee during the third round of the Valspar Championship 2025 at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club on March 22, 2025 in Palm Harbor, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
Shane Lowry is now 12th on the OWGR after a great start to the 2025 season
Mar 22, 2025; Palm Harbor, Florida, USA; Shane Lowry putts on the seventh green during the third round of the Valspar Championship golf tournament at Innisbrook Resort. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
The Irishman reached a career-best ranking after the Valspar Championship. at Copperhead

Clara ace Lowry bagged a T8 place finish the Valspar Championship on the final leg of the 2025 Florida Swing.

And there’s more good news for the Irishman as he once again surpassed his best ever position on the OWGR ladder.

The 37-year-old now finds himself just top sports off the top-12 after the tournament at Innisbrook Golf Resort.

He sits in a career-best position of 12th on the ranking ladder, just two weeks out from the 2025 Masters

It’s been a surge for the Irishman this campaign as he only recently surpassed his best ever position of 16th on the OWGR table after the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

He entered the 2025 campaign ranked 28th in the world, and his solid form has continued into the first quarter of the Tour’s season.

Meanwhile, Viktor Hovland pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind win at the Valspar Championship on Sunday.

The Norway man overturned a three-shot deficit to Justin Thomas midway through the back nine to claim his seventh PGA Tour title.

The 27-year-old caught fire down the stretch, carding birdies at the 14th, 16th, and 17th holes.

While Thomas faltered with bogeys at 16 and 18 at Innisbrook Golf and Hotel Resort.

Hovland’s closing 67 gave him an 11-under-par total of 273, one clear of Thomas, who posted a 66.

The PGA Tour heads to Houston this week for the penultimate event ahead of the 2025 Masters at Augusta.

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RTE stars jet off on sun holiday with rarely-seen partners after Dancing With The Stars final

RTE stars Kayleigh Trappe and Jack Woolley have jetted off on holiday together.

The pals were among the final four contestants competing to lift the coveted Dancing With The Stars Glitterball trophy on Sunday, March 16.

Selfie of four friends smiling in front of palm trees.
Instagram
Kayleigh and Jack have jetted off to Tenerife with their partners[/caption]
Woman in floral dress at sunset by the ocean.
Instagram
Kayleigh got all dolled up for dinner last night[/caption]
Three men toasting with champagne at an outdoor restaurant.
Instagram
Kayleigh and Jack have been sharing snippets of their trip on Instagram[/caption]

However they missed out on the big win when Irish Olympian Rhys McClenaghan and his professional partner Laura Nolan received the winning vote.

Jack and his fiancé Dave Stig, who he’s been dating since 2021, got engaged last week on St Patrick’s Day.

The pair decided to mark the special occasion with a trip to Tenerife.

Kayleigh and her new boyfriend Tom Carmody joined the happy couple.

The four pals have been sharing stunning snippets of their sun-soaked holiday so far over on Instagram.

They all got dolled up last night to pop open the champagne at a restaurant by the beach.

Kayleigh looked gorgeous wearing a yellow and white cami sun dress and brown open-toe heels.

The Monaghan native posted a photo of herself walking along the promenade and said: “This time last week, I was backstage and raring to go out and do my show dance.”

After dinner, they had some fun riding around on electric scooters.

The four friends made sure to soak up the sunshine today and took a stunning selfie together while they were on a walk.

Kayleigh stunned in a pink maxi skirt, red and white gingham bikini, hoop earrings and pink tinted sunglasses.

While Jack looked dapper wearing a blue Nike tank top, silver chain and black sunglasses.

JACK JETS

Jack captioned the selfie saying: “Here’s to a well needed holiday.”

The taekwondo star’s friends and fans flooded the comment section with compliments.

Denise said: “Brilliant. Enjoy yourselves. You should try out some steps samba if you going out.”

Cliona commented: “Have a ball!”

Jack has told of his hopes to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 – and the extensive training will take place in Madrid.

He told RSVP: “I want to do another cycle and the only way for me to get to another Olympics and have the possibility of taking home a medal is if I enjoy it.

“I don’t think I could do another cycle just going to training and working hard without having fun and being able to be myself.”

Dancing with the Stars logo with disco ball.
DWTS fans all love Jack and Kayleigh’s snaps
RTE

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