#2018 world cup russia

[l0n4t1csfan65]

dont kill me

[uli0004]

Zabivaka mirando la copa!

[russianreader]

On This Day, or, Cyka Blyat

Don’t turn off your TV set. Keep watching the “most exciting World Cup ever.” While you do that, actual Russians and some non-Russians (i.e., Oleg Sentsov) are suffering horribly for the near-absolute power Russia’s Emperor of Ice Cream and his retinue have acquired over the last twenty years. It was this same power (and the money that comes with it) that made it possible for the Emperor of Ice…

[worldspotlightnews]

Germany cancels World Cup event after Russia, Belarus readmitted | CNN

Reuters  —  Germany’s fencing federation has canceled a women’s foil World Cup event after the sport’s global governing body (FIE) reversed a ban on athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus, it said on Thursday. Athletes from the two countries were banned from many international competitions after Russia invaded Ukraine last February in what Moscow calls a “special military operation.” More…

[urduhindipoetry]

FIFA World cups— From 2002 To 2022 till Date Qatar is The Best #shorts

[k-lua]

[shyamdasgupta]

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 | Argentina Vs France | Final Match Highlights | Neymar's Youngest Son Won

YOU CAN WATCH MANY VERITY FISH FARMS,YOU CAN WATCH VIDEO VERITY FISH DISEASE TREATMENT,YOU CAN WATCH VERITY DOG MARKET PRICE & VERITY BIRD PRICE & AVAILABILITY, FISH & BIRDS & SUPER WORM BREED & SALE DETAILS & ETC, Read More

[mysunshinetemptress]

You Promised

Disclaimer: angst

Leah Williamson x reader

To say you and your girlfriend played the same sport just at different levels was an understatement.

Leah played for Arsenal in the WSL and is Captain of the Lionesses on the international stage whereas you played for and Captained Newport Pagnell FC an East Midlands women’s regional football team.

Now you where proud to play for them every time you walked out onto the pitch it was like you had led out an army ready to battle for the next 90 minutes. Only it was a pitch in the back arse of no where and the changing rooms where prefabricated buildings and your subs bench wasn’t the most comfortable place to sit but you wouldn’t change it for the world this was your team.

Dating a world class football player who had captained the English women’s team to European champs meant that many people began to have opinions on her life and in turn yours, and most of the time it was about the different levels you both played at.

Both yourself and Leah grew up in Milton Keynes and although you where a life long Arsenal fan you hadn’t began playing till the later Leah’s of primary school, unlike Leah who had been playing at Arsenal since the age of 8. You had both met later in secondary school and a friendship soon blossomed, your parents would often find you both either playing, talking or watching football together, but it didn’t take you long to realise that you both played at different levels.

It had become something you where rather insecure about. Watching as Leah made her senior debut in 2014 you had also been chosen to play on the women’s first team but your success would have to wait as you celebrated Leah’s and you honestly didn’t care as long as Leah was living out her dream and happy you would never care to celebrate yours. That was until recently.

Leah had asked you out on the night of your 20th birthday stating she simply couldn’t wait anymore and if it meant fucking over an amazing friendship for an even better relationship she would do just that. The first four years had been blissful. Leah played at Arsenal and had won the WSL as well as the FA cup and each time she just had to look into the stands to see your gleaming smile telling her how proud of her you where. Leah had played on the youth squads for England but in Russia in 2018 you had stood next to her family to cheer her on as she made her senior debut, as well you where the first person she called after Sarina Wiegman had asked her to be captain of the Lionesses heading into the euros, ultimately you had been asked to become the Captain of Newport Pagnell the same day but not wanting to take away such a moment from her you kept it quite. You had been there at every match of the Euros and had ultimately burst into tears at the sound of the final whistle on the 31st of July grabbing Amanda as you both sobbed with pride for the English captain, who had jumped the barrier and ran up the steps to kiss you right after. You had been there to witness all of Leah’s best moments from the minute you met, but you had also been there to witness her hardest moments. You had been sat in the west stand of Leigh’s Sports Village with Amanda and Leah’s cousin Holly hair still wet from training when she had gone down. Amanda had immediately grabbed your arm out of instinct before you stood stating you would go check on her. You had found her tear stained lying on physios bed “oh darling.” Leah had immediately burst into tears once more at the sight of you before explaining what the medic team had told her. There wasn’t anything you could do but hold her and listen wishing for it all to be wrong. Sadly it didn’t workout that way and it had been announced your girlfriend had torn her ACL and would be unable to Captain her team at the World Cup this summer.

It had been a selfish wish one that you immediately felt guilty about but you had hoped with this forced break Leah might attend a few more of your matches, maybe meet the team and the girls who had become some of your best friends, normally she either had training or was playing in one herself whereas you had a job as a teacher and trained night and played on Sundays. But what you had really hoped for was to turn to see Leah standing beside the pitch cheering you on as your team played their final match of the season and one that could potentially see your team winning the league.

“Lee, my love.” You had walked through the front door expecting to find your girlfriend sitting on the couch typing away on her computer, instead you found her in the kitchen with Lia Walti “oh hey Wally .” Lia stood pulling you into a hug “Y/n how are you.” You smiled dropping you bag before picking up the girls cups and refilling them making one for your self “I’m good Wally tired but good how are you.” Leah grabbed your hand pulling you to the chair beside her resting her hand on your thigh “I’m good, thought I would come check on this one since I’m out for the rest of the season as a precaution.” You smiled “thank you, speaking of how is your ankle I watched it after it was hard to watch no idea how you did it.” Leah squeezed your leg “she’s just built different love, you have to be to play at our level.” You froze slightly at what Leah was implying but chose to ignore it instead asking Wally if she was staying for dinner.

You lay in bed head on Leah’s chest as she stroked your hair softly “Lee.” Leah hummed “I was wondering if you would come to my last match on the 27th kickoff is at 2pm.” Leah smiled “I’d love to my girl.” You squeezed her gently “only if you want to.” Leah kissed your head “I promise to be there my love I want to be there.” You kissed her jaw before settling back down content with Leah’s answer.

Leah was still asleep when you woke up Saturday morning getting all your things ready to head to meet the team for the last match of the season. You ran back up the stairs after making yourself breakfast before leaning over to kiss her head “I’ll see you shortly Lee.” You had taken your jersey from last season and left it on her night stand hoping she would wear it before running out the door.

The team had been on a high the minute you had all met at the clubhouse the excitement of the last match and potentially winning the league had set you all into a buzz as you all danced around the changing rooms getting ready to go out for warmups. “Anyone special coming Skip.” You turned looking to your best friend and teammate Tegan Mallor, you couldn’t help your cheeks get all read “oh is the wife making an appearance.” You laughed “she’s not my wife yet haven’t asked haven’t been asked but yes she told me she was coming as well as her Mum and cousins plus my parents.” The girls cheered at the thought of the Lioness captain coming to watch the final match.

Walking out on to the pitch for warmups you looked over to see your parents stood on the sidelines with Amanda,Holly,Ben,Jordan and a few others of the Williamson/Baker bunch it had made your heart swell at the sight you had grown up with no siblings and so Leah’s cousins and brother had taken on that mantle, but you couldn’t help but notice Leah wasn’t here yet. Putting it down to her being late you got on with training and put your captain head on ready to win.

The first half had gone terribly, the opposition had scored twice all in the span of 10 minutes of each other and you found the girls began to lose hope, you had never been more grateful for the half time whistle grabbing your team into the changing room and trying to hype them back up “what’s going on this isn’t the bunch of girls that where dancing around this morning we have 45 minutes to do this 45 that’s plenty of time turn it around come on.” The girls had jumped up and began running back out as the second half began. You turned looking to the sidelines hoping to catch your girlfriend but instead it had been the same group you had seen at training, Holly had caught your eye and shrugged letting you know she had no idea where Leah was.

The next 45 minutes flew in and your team had managed to tie the game but with a minute to go you had found yourself screaming for a cross in at the edge of the box from Tegan. The team held their breath as you sent a scream to the top right corner before they all piled on top of you screaming as the red blew the whistle stating the match was over and you had won both the match and the league. You all stood running to your family’s on the sidelines grabbing your dad into a hug as he cried “oh peanut I’m so proud that was amazing.” You squeezed him letting go as you hugged your mum before moving to Amanda “that was incredible darling no one deserves it more.” You pulled away thanking her before hugging everyone else “where’s Le.” Everyone froze “Go celebrate we will talk after.” You sighed shoulders sagging in disappointment “she promised.” Holly squeezed your arm “I’m sorry Y/n.” You shook your head “can I take him with me.” You turned asking Jordan if you could kidnap her son to help raise the trophy wanting to move away from their pitiful stares “want to go with Auntie Y/n buddy.” The baby simply smiled raising his hands for you to take him as you thanked Jordan and walked off to get your medal. “I’m going to kill her.” Holly punched Ben in the arm before Amanda spoke “you will have to get in line.”

You had been stood in the changing room dancing with the girls when Tegan had tapped you on the shoulder showing you her phone. You felt your stomach drop as you watched your girlfriend hobbling around the pitch at meadow park wearing a Rafaelle jersey as the girls shook hands and did their lap around. “I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up it was so stupid.” Tegan grabbed your arm “hey it’s her fault she let you down ok you asked her to be here and she said no promised you she would ok.” You nodded turning to pack you bags just wanting to get home and change before heading to Amanda’s house for dinner.

You had arrived at Amanda’s and where currently sat on the floor playing with Jordan’s son while you laughed and talked about your summer plans when Leah had walked through the door “Hey.” You ignored her calling out in the hall as you talked about what you where bringing to Ibiza with Holly as well as possible things to do with Ben, “I’m bringing four bikinis max but my mum wants me to bring a rash vest if we are going jet skiing this year Ben after I came back the same colour as a strawberry last time.” They all laughed as Amanda grabbed Leah from the hall taking in her appearance dressed in an Arsenal jersey “you are in big trouble missy.” Amanda didn’t get to say anything else as you walked in with Jack (made up the name) resting on your hip, you stopped watching as Leah turned a smile taking over her face “Hi gorgeous.” You turned looking to Amanda “we thought we would come ask if you needed a hand with anything.” Amanda walked over taking Jack from you “no all good darling, I’ll leave you both to talk.”

You sighed turning to check the food as Leah went to grab you hand “hey what’s going on.” You shook your head “you promised.” Leah looked at you confused “what.” “You promised me you would be there, I thought you would be there, do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to tell my teammates your coming and then not show up only to see you all over instagram at Meadow park Le.” Leah shook her head “what are you talking about be where Y/n I have no idea.” You cut her off scoffing “oh my god you didn’t even remember, your telling me you didn’t care enough to remember.” Leah was getting annoyed now “what are you talking about.” You huffed not wanting to raise your voice “my match, the final match of the season where i captained my childhood club to win the league the one I asked you to come to the one you promised you would only to never show.” Leah froze “Y/n.” You shook your head “I left my jersey out for you to wear to it, I thought since you where injured you might come to just one of my matches heck even the most important one but you stood me up to go see Arsenal at Meadow park.” Leah sighed “it was Rafa’s last game.” You rolled your eyes “it was the most important match of my career.” Leah scoffed “you don’t have a football career Y/n your a teacher that’s your career not football for crying out loud your acting like I missed a World Cup final or a match at the emirates I missed a match in a field where the toilets are porta potties,the teams stand on the sidelines at half time and a bunch of wannabes pros run around so sorry I chose to go a more exciting match to support my friend in her last one for an actual professional team.” You felt tears spring to your eyes begging them not to spill over “so supporting your own girlfriend..” Leah scoffed “come on Y/n seriously I get bored watching you play at least my matches aren’t mind numbing.” You froze as Leah slowly began to realise what she had said “y/n” “ no your right, I don’t think I can do this anymore Leah.” Leah looked at you confused “do what Y/n let me explain please.” You shook your head “I can’t be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t support me they way I support them it’s not fair and I’m so tired of it Leah I really am and I’m so sorry because no matter how much I love you because believe me I really do I can’t keep being the only one putting in the effort or support so I’m done.”You began to turn to walk back to the living room where you knew everyone could hear “Y/n.” You just shook your head walking into the room collecting your stuff as Leah walked in behind you “eh thank you for coming I’m so sorry I can’t stay for dinner I have eh I really have to go.” Amanda stood up not bothering to look at her daughter “Y/n.” You shook your head “it’s fine enjoy dinner I’ll see you later.” You brushed last Leah and headed straight out the front door. “Mum I.” Amanda shook her head “I don’t know who you are but you are not the girl I raised the girl I raised would have understood how important today was for her girlfriend she would have been rushing the pitch after watching her girlfriend score the winning goal, the girl I raised would have been there point blank.” Leah felt her eyes fill with tears “they won.” Holly nodded standing up “your girlfriend led a team who hadn’t won a game in ten years to wining the East Midlands league in a season and she scored the final goal.” Leah shook her head “I didn’t mean it.” Amanda laughed “I have known you long enough and so has Y/n to know that you did and you know she is insecure about not being enough for you as a human being and as someone who plays football yet you told her today right to her face that those fears where true. I’m sorry I can’t even look at you right now.”

Leah stood hopeless “Holly I…” Everyone stood up leaving the room as Leah was left to think about what she had said “oh god what have I done.”

[denislieak]

Приятного аппетита😋

🌬⊰☃️🇷🇺

[benshorts2]

These adidas shorts were remade for the Russia 2018 World Cup. Slightly longer than the 80s style but still made from nylon, with inner brief and rear pocket.

[askgildaseniors]

Marco Fabián reflects on his incredible career, describing an inspirational journey that included competing in two World Cups in 2014 and 2018 and capturing Olympic gold. He highlights faith's motivating role, crediting his achievement to God and thanking Him for these life-changing experiences. Rather than getting stressed, Marco believes that conquering problems requires retaining perspective and being appreciative.

His participation in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2018 event in Russia demonstrate his commitment to the sport. Marco's motivating outlook is obvious, as he sees his profession as a blessing. His Olympic success is another motivating factor, cementing his standing as a world-class athlete.

Marco's views are inspiring. He demonstrates that his success results from hard effort, strong faith, and a good attitude. He believes in applying these beliefs to problems without allowing stress to overwhelm the benefits of achievement.

Marco's motivating approach reminds people that setbacks are unavoidable, but thankfulness for one's path fuels genuine accomplishment. His tale encourages sportsmen and anybody looking to reconcile ambition with inner calm and purpose.

[extranenas]

the final of 2018 | part one

pairing: luka modric x reader

genre: fluff…?

plot: being on a mens soccer team was hard- but having to be in the world cup finals and play against her husband…?

extra: so for the sake of the story, reader was born in france (but yknow race isnt specified but yknow u got french residency😭😭)

masterlist

july 15, 2018 | 3rd person p.o.v

today was the 2018 world cup finals in russia. throughout the entirety of her career- she worked up to finally make it into the damn final, to taste what people said she'd never do, win the world cup.

yes, she is a woman who played on mens teams, she always did. people always said she had a talent that was undeniable- something she couldnt hide and was huge. something that marked her as the greatest woman player to grace the iconic green grass.

starting out in psg's mens team at age 18 in 2006, being the talk of the game because it was a girl on the mens team in 2007, who soon had went to croatia to play around with one of their teams. her trip there caused up in her meeting her future husband and father to her kids.

2007 | 3rd person p.o.v

when psg had decided to go on a tour around europe, they had went over to the balkan side where croatia resided. they had contacted dinamo zagreb, one of the major croatian teams to come over to paris as a "training help" of some sort.

they wanted to show what it was like to train like one of the most well known team- what its like to be on the bigger stage than what they were used to.

when they had arrived at their training facilities- they didnt expect to see a girl in the front of the field with the coaches and managers.

a girl was the player everyone was talking about in the soccer world? this famed player was a girl?

2007 | lukas p.o.v

she went around and shook everyones hand, introducing herself- i found out her name was ___- the captain of the team. i thought it was weird cause why are we training with the womens team?

wait... there's guys coming out instead of girls. is she the captain of the mens team?

"i forgot to mention- yes i play on the mens team- yes im the captain of it. i know this is extremely rare to see a girl- best be known a 19 year old girl be in this position but youre seeing it now."

i nod as she chuckled after her clarification. she was the girl everyone talked about... she was quite pretty too… maybe this wouldnt be bad?

present  | 3rd person p.o.v

people always doubted the girl who was on this level- spewing nonsense like she couldn't be compatible with the mens team- shes too weak and yet she probed them wrong every time. it was unheard of for a girl to do that- but it didnt  mean it was completely new.

what was new though- was dating your (well future)  teammate. throughout 2007 up to 2010, the pair of luka modric and ___ was the ultimate pair on the field and out of. they even went so far to get married in 2010 and two years later, soon their daughter had donned the modric-___ last name. after that, their twin boys in 2016 had also donned that name as well.

even though they went through the troubles of being teammates then rivals while being lovers out of the game- they thought they were used to it. used to the times when ever luka had scored- shed come up running to him- jumping onto his back and giving him a huge kiss on the cheek.

used to the times hed yell from excitement as she did the slide trick- the trick where shed kick the ball under some player and immediately slide between them and score that goal the team desperately needed.

used to the times where hed immediately hug her after every goal she did- kissing her forehead as the crowd roared from the stands. they were used to working and against together on the field.

but it was never at this level. despite cheering on eachother and their team to win the world cup- saying they'd support either one no matter who won it- they never thought theyd get it to the point where they were against eachother on the world cup final.

the country who hasnt won at all and was only 27 years old, and the team who won the 1998 world cup.

three minutes before kick off | ___ p.o.v

i looked around the filled stadium- the atmosphere had never failed to impress me. the cheers, lights, overall pride was just... beautiful... the chance of your country winning... the people who believe you will take them to the top... its just... beautiful...

i soon saw kylian walking up to me- placing his hand on my shoulder as i put mines on top of his- looking at him with a smile.

"if we win... then... what...?"

"we have the best time of our lives, ___. youll be the best of the best- if your husband isnt already 'great' enough."

i let out a tiny laugh- soon looking at the stands to find my kids, adeliene, matteo, and santiago. i wonder how hard it is for them to support your parents when both of them are going against eachother.

i sighed as we got into the lines when they played the national anthems. i sung mines with pride as the other team did with theirs. i soon look around my body to check if anything was out of place- my eyes immediately glancing to my arm with the captains band around it.

i reluctantly walked out of the line with my countries flag to the front of the field to exchange the banners. i wait and see luka walk up with the red, blue, and white flag that had donned the crest in the middle.

i smile before shaking his hand and exchanging the flags- quickly pecking his cheek before whispering.

"good luck mon amour..."

"good luck to you moja ljubav..."

i nod before walking back to my spot- feeling more guilty now that there's a chance that i might steal my husbands dream of winning the world cup.

before i knew it- kickoff was going to start in a few seconds. i immediately got to my spot as a midfielder- yet tried to find my husband on the other side of the field. i did- and blew him a kiss- one he grabbed and took with a smile.

i soon thought about our conversation from before- what would- could- happen.

flashback | 3 person p.o.v

she sat on the hotel room- looking up at her husband with a conflicted face as he looked outside.

"amour...? how do you feel...?"

"... confused... guilty...”

"lukita look at me, please."

she watched as he slowly turned to look at her- his face filled with worry and dread. this wasnt the first time he went to the world cup final- yet this was worser than the one before. she soon got up and cupped his face- kissing his nose.

"baby... i know its hard for the both of us- we both want to win... i know amor..."

"but i dont want to go against you- its so hard to have to be your rival- to pretend we hate eachother whenever youre on the opposite team when i love you with my whole heart and soul- i cant do it on the other cups level... draga... i cant do it on the world cup level... i just cant..."

"i know but... one of us is gonna win... we have to do it whether you like it or dont. baby, if you win, ill be so glad, so happy you finally get what you deserve, something you always worked for...”

"but you... you deserve it more than i do... i want it but-"

"no buts... baby you deserve it... and if i manage to win, i swear ill dedicate every goal to you- every damn goal. it doesnt matter who wins, we still love eachother very much. we'll forever be lm10 and __5... forever...

to be continued 🫶

[lewislarbaleister]

F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain - Qualifying

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 07 - Lewis Hamilton (c) of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates with team mates in their engineering room in the F1 paddock as England score against Sweden in their World Cup 2012 Russia quarter final match in Samara, at Silverstone on July 7, 2018 in Northampton, England. (Photo Handout by Paul Ripke - Mercedes GP via Getty Images)

[goldenpinof]

Speaking of. Do you remember phandom's reaction to DnP coming to Moscow? And DnP themselves feeling the need to go on "social media detox"? I can maybe understand DnP being paranoid.

But I remember seeing posts where russian fans (mainly teenagers at that point) were desperately trying to convince others that we also had lgbtq people and DnP weren't going to get hurt here. Like some people were actually mad they were coming here. Still makes me angry every time I think about it. Because in Moscow it really was fine. I realise that now, that back then it was fine. Phandom's reaction was cruel and uncalled for.

But then DnP were also probably the first ever western youtubers to come here. And even though I didn't go to the show, just the fact of them visiting still makes today's nightmare a bit more bearable and for that I will be forever grateful.

LATAM fans deserve to have something to look back to, it's simply unfair. I think we really should try and pressure DnP into adding more dates or at the very least addressing it. And for the love of god, people, at the very least you can stop being such assholes to others

detox, Dan taking his hoop earring off... it was all very.. strange and intense in a way that people expected something bad to happen, i guess. also, there were phannies who found out where dnp were staying in moscow (it wasn't hard tbh, so i'm not surprised at all), and also that meetup at the red square. and then on top of it all, some idiot brought ussr flag to m&g. ohh, and the venue's photographer took professional photos of the show and posted them before the tour was over. moscow was the only place that did that, if i remember correctly. it was such a huge no-no, lmao.

like, overall, moscow had a lot of questionable stuff going on, so i understand people's scepticism now and understood it back then. nothing really bad happened, but people were wired, and it wasn't based on nothing. it was before anti-lgbt laws became even worse, i think, but it wasn't perfect even back then.

looking at it now, we should have been questioning russia in 2018 as well. god, the world was stupid as fuck. 2008, 2014... right there, in front of our eyes. even i don't have a fucking excuse. ugh, anyway. they came, they took some pics, they fucked off. i'm glad it's over.

i'm sure it's not the answer you hoped for. i remember the concerns, i think i even answered a few of them back then. do i remember people being actually rude to those who went to the show in moscow? honestly, no. i could totally forget, though. those times, and especially that week, were crazy! i was trying to multitask with work, uni and phandom, AND travelling. never a good idea.

you know why it could be double fine in moscow during summer 2018? the World Cup and a lot of tourists. like, hundreds of thousands. even russian gov wouldn't oppress foreigners during the World Cup. not in 2018. when so much money was at stake.

Latam, Asia and, ideally, Africa deserve at least an acknowledgement. because realistically, almost any Latam or Asian country where dnp could actually go to has a bigger dnp audience than russia. like, i'm sorry (i'm not), but it's true, especially right now.

[worldcupsongstournament]

Best World Cup Official Song

Relevant context and links to songs under the cut:

We Are One (Ole Ola) is a song recorded by Cuban-American rapper Pitbull for the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil and features guest vocals from American singer Jennifer Lopez and Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte. The artists co-wrote the song with Sia, RedOne, Danny Mercer, Dr. Luke, Cirkut, and Thomas Troelsen.

Live It Up is a song by the American singer Nicky Jam featuring the American rapper Will Smith and the Kosovo Albanian singer Era Istrefi. It was used as the official song of the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Russia.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

The road to the next duty is the only straight one.

- George MacDonald

General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith was the youngest Head of the British Army in over a century, the longest serving Chief of the General Staff since the Second World War and the most senior Special Forces officer in Defence.

The son of a major-general, Carleton-Smith went to Eton and later Durham University to read history. He joined the Army 40 years ago in 1982 on a university scholarship and graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as an Infantry officer in the Irish Guards. 

He passed the SAS Selection Course in 1990 and served around the world with the SAS for most of the following 15 years in the Gulf, South America, Africa and the Balkans. Carleton-Smith was Commanding Officer of 22 SAS Regiment after 9/11 and commanded all Special Forces operations in Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan.

He subsequently assumed command of 16 Air Assault Brigade, the Army’s high readiness parachute intervention force which culminated in his command of all British Forces in Afghanistan during one of the war’s most intense periods.

Promoted to Major General as Director of Special Forces, he commanded all the United Kingdom’s Special Forces for 3 years which included implementing the strategy to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq. 

Prior to taking up the post of Chief of the General Staff, the professional Head of the British Army in 2018, he was Defence’s Director of Military Strategy and Operations which included directing the UK response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea and military support to Ukraine. 

General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith has also been Honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards and of Oxford University OTC and also been a member of the England Rugby mentoring team preparing the squad for the 2023 World Cup and Colonel Commandant of the SAS.

Photo: General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, KCB, CBE (As Colonel Irish Guards) Portrait Sitting London. (Rory Lewis Photographer) London 2023.