The heartwarming moment Phil Foden invited an elderly Manchester City fan to watch a game inside his box at the weekend has been racking up thousands of views online.
Charlie Gibson’s 84-year-old grandad Barry is a massive fan of the The Sky Blues and has been watching the team in action for much of his life – but since his ‘gramps’ was diagnosed with dementia and his condition has been steadily deteriorating, Charlie has been taking him to see his heroes play at the Etihad Stadium pretty regularly instead.
Barry already captured the hearts of football fans after a video Charlie shared of taking him to watch City’s final game of the 2021/22 Premier League season – which saw them clinch the title in a against Aston Villa – has been viewed nearly eight million times on TikTok.
The adorable video of Barry celebrating the title win also caught the attention of many at the club.
And one of those who was moved by the viral video was City’s very-own star player Phil Foden, who has since gone “above and beyond” to welcome Barry into the football family.
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The 22-year-old was first captured coming over to greet Barry at the side of the pitch at one of the team’s Community Shield earlier this season, in a video that now has over 3.9 million views – but its the Stockport-born midfielder’s latest gesture that has really been praised for.
Foden invited Barry, Charlie and Charlie’s mum to watch City’s 6-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest on Wednesday from his box with the rest of his family.
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During the video of the matchday experience that Charlie once again shared to TikTok, the England star is seen greeting and hugging Barry before the match as the players walked into the stadium, and then taking the time to come into the box after the game to speak with him, take some pictures, and give him a very-special signed shirt.
The latest video has been watched by over 1.3 million people and counting in less than 24-hours.
Charlie says he shares his match day videos with his grandad to social media to raise awareness of dementia and Alzheimer’s’ charities, and to show that there can be many positive moments among the lows of living with a family member with the disease.
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“I’m trying to show that despite living with dementia, that person’s still there,” Charlie explained.
He told the MEN: “Gramps has been having such a great time, it’s what football is all about.
“People can only see parts of the experience on the TikToks and what I am trying to do. It’s all about trying to have that connection with him that you can’t always have with someone living with dementia.”
Liam Gallagher says he’ll ‘gig in Lidl’ if Co-op Live still isn’t ready – and they sound pretty game for it
Danny Jones
Following the ongoing palaver with Co-op Live, Liam Gallagher has joked that he’d happily play his scheduled gigs in a Lidl if the arena still isn’t ready – at least we think he’s joking…
With Liam Gallagher having been named as one of the first acts booked to play Co-op Live last year, many are now wondering whether the venue will even by June, with the former Oasis frontman set to play four Definitely Maybe 30th-anniversary sets. That being said, he’s come up with a solution if not.
Turns out Liam Gallagher isn’t an Aldi man, he’s team Lidl.
Vintage LG, we’ll give him that.
Obviously a bit of a tongue-in-cheek quip at the venue being sponsored by a supermarket and convenience store chain, it could have been any other competitor that the ever-witty youngest Gallagher brother picked but it somehow made it extra funny that he chose a budget brand like Lidl.
However, with the 51-year-old already having fun with stunts like voicing the tannoys on the Metrolink last year, for instance, we wouldn’t put it past him to take this joke a little further.
Better still, not that we’re getting carried away or anything but Lidl themselves seem pretty keen on the idea too; they even spent the time to build an entire setlist for the fictional show. Fair play.
Liam Gallagher @ Lidl Arena – Setlist:
– Lidl by Lidl – Champagne Superoffer – Super(market) Sonic – The Importance of Being Lidl – Tiger Roll With It – Don’t Look Back in Hanger – Some Might Save
Can you imagine? Liam Gallagher swapping the occasional tambourine shake for beeps from a barcode scanner as he moves back and forth on the conveyor belt. We know it’s absolute nonsense and we definitely shouldn’t be even remotely considering it… BUT it’s the stuff of dreams and strange things have happened.
A lot of stranger things have happened this week alone. As for the latest with Co-op Live, the Chairman and CEO of key-backers Oak View Group, Tim Leiweke, issued a full statement sharing his “sincere apologies”and insisting that they understand “there is work to be done to rebuild your trust in us.”
With the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Peter Kay, The Black Keys and more having their gigs pulled by the venue due to numerous issues, including an air conditioning unit falling from the ceiling, fans are understandably fearful that other upcoming events could face delays or general misfortune.
Much like the venue itself, we imagine we’ll be playing catch-up on this whole saga for the foreseeable, but here’s a recap of the story so far:
Featured Images — Lidl GB/Exit Festival (via Flickr)/The Manc Group
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Gavin and Stacey will return with a 2024 Christmas special for its final episode
Danny Jones
After some pretty big rumblings earlier this year, it’s finally been confirmed that Gavin and Stacey will be returning for a Christmas special this year and what will be its last-ever episode.
The beloved British comedy last aired back in 2019 with their previous Christmas special and fans of the show have been crying out for more ever since.
Well, it turns out they’ll be getting just one more go around the block as co-creators James Corden and Ruth Jones revealed that they have now finished writing their third and final Xmas special which will tie a festive bow on the trio of series which started all the way back in 2007.
Sharing a picture of the script on social media, the pair wrote: “Some news… It’s official!!! We have finished writing the last ever episode of Gavin and Stacey. See you on Christmas Day, BBC One. Love Ruth and James”.
However, what was actually going on was a bit of a red herring as she carefully chose to talk down any notions of another series but didn’t categorically dismiss the potential Christmas special.
In fact, she actually went on to add: “All I can say is, if there was something to say on that front, James [Corden] and I would happily announce it, we would.”
And that’s exactly what they’ve done. Well played, Nessa.
As for details surrounding the final chapter in the Gavin and Stacey story, we have very few details at this stage but fans of the iconic show will already be wondering how they might pick up from where certain threads left off.
Production companies Baby Cow, Corden’s Fulwell 73 and Jones’ Tidy Productions are all behind the special and, given the momentous occasion, it will likely have a primetime slot on the TV guide when it finally rolls around this holiday season.
So get your remotes, baubles and bhunas at the ready because Gavin and Stacey is coming back for one last time and it’s sure to be a TV event that people all across the UK will remember for years to come.