A huge warehouse on the industrial outskirts of Manchester city centre is set to host a huge Qatar World Cup 2022 fan zone.
Love Factory, a new cultural building on Dantzic Street, will show the games on a huge indoor central screen and projectors throughout the venue.
As well as actually screening the matches, Love Factory’s commitment to football will continue with a huge exhibition of World Cup jerseys from Classic Football Shirts.
There’ll also be a range of local food and drink traders, including Ate Days A Week, who’ll create a rotation of pie fillings inspired by the different countries competing in the tournament.
Love Factory is set to open its doors this winter and will operate as an adaptive events venue, kicking things off with its Qatar World Cup 2022 programming.
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VIP booths at Love Factory’s World Cup celebrations in Manchester. Credit: Supplied
An Official Carling Fan Zone will take over the huge space, alongside general seating, and even dedicated Singing Terraces as a nod to the days when football grounds rarely had seating.
All the zones will have uninterrupted views of the action and will be within easy reach of the food and drink offerings.
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There are also hospitality boxes for group hire, with flatscreens, fine-tuned sound systems, and food and drink packages.
Love Factory Manchester. Credit: Jody HartleyAte Days A week at Love Factory Manchester. Credit: SuppliedLove Factory Manchester. Credit: Supplied
At halftime, there’ll be live halftime punditry from talkSPORT, with commentators providing match commentary.
Exclusive items like Copa90 boots, classic football shirts worn by legendary squads throughout history, archive images and rare posters will be displayed.
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Classic Football Shirts, the sporting treasure trove on Deansgate, will be creating an exhibition celebrating past iconic World Cup moments, including match-worn England shirts including 1990 Home, 1998 Home, and more.
Limited coaching sessions with Football Kings will be available for kids between five and 13 years old outside the ticketed match days.
There’ll be a five-a-side pitch campaign on Thursday 17 November made up of teams of influencers, including Stretford Paddock, Habitat, EATMCR, Love Factory, Classic Football Shirts, Football Kings, and Miss Kick.
Tickets for Love Factory x Qatar World Cup 2022 are £5 for standing; £7 for seating; £10 per person for hospitality seating. Tickets are available to purchase HERE: lovefactory.uk/theworldcup
Private Suites are also available at £75 per person which includes private space with champagne on arrival, complimentary food and drinks, state-of-the-art flatscreen, fine-tuned sound systems, and access to cocktail bars. For further enquiry, please email [email protected].
Club de Padel to close current Manchester location to make way for more Deansgate Square skyscrapers
Daisy Jackson
Club de Padel, the first padel club to open in Manchester, will be relocating from its Deansgate Square home.
The wildly popular sports club will close next week, as landowners Renaker begin the next phase of development of the skyscraper district.
Club de Padel is keeping its new location under wraps for now – but will be going out from its current Manchester home with a bang.
The club, which welcomed more than 100,000 people in the first year alone, will be offering free padel for all before it closes at Deansgate Square.
Club de Padel launched back in 2023, with four competition-grade courts, and has since added a Finnish sauna experience with Good Sauna, launched a best-selling clothing range with UN:IK, plus become the home for Manchester’s most popular run club with MADE Running.
As well as that, the club has been donating free courts and coaching during the school holidays to local children’s charity Wood Street Mission, and hosting events with the likes of adidas, REFY and Blank Street Coffee.
It’s been one of the city’s top sporting success stories, attracting attention from the likes of The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Hypebae and the BBC.
But now Club de Padel will be leaving its current home ahead of Renaker’s expansion of its luxury skyscraper district.
Club de Padel ManchesterClub de Padel is at the foot of the Deansgate Square towers
As for that new top-secret location opening later this year – they’re promising an ‘indoor and outdoor space in an incredible location, featuring an expanded padel experience, high-end wellness and social spaces, and a year-round programme of events’.
Club de Padel founders said in a statement today: “We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built here in Manchester — bringing padel to the city centre for the first time and introducing tens of thousands of people to the sport during our time on Deansgate.
“But this site was never meant to be permanent, and we’ve been limited in what we can build here, so the time is right to move on, grow and improve.
“We’ve learned a huge amount from our time in Manchester and from opening our second club in Sheffield last year, and we’re excited to reveal the locations of our new sites — including the new Manchester club — and begin the next phase.
“In the meantime, we want to thank everyone who has made this club so special, and invite them to enjoy a free game of padel on us.”
Club de Padel will close to begin its Manchester relocation on 14 January.
You can book a free hour of padel between 9 and 14 January, through the usual Playtomic system – you’ll be refunded for your booking in full on arrival.
‘Big John’ is bringing his ‘BOSH’ bingo to Manchester
Danny Jones
Attention, all you ‘Big John’ lovers, the man himself is coming to Manchester this year for his very own ‘BOSH Bingo’ show.
Excessively large takeaway order not included*
That’s right, ‘Big John’ Fisher has gone from being a viral sensation famous for eating shedloads of Chinese and saying that one catchphrase to hosting his very own live bingo tour.
Even by his standards, his announcement video was an eye-catching one, to say the least – and we expect the event itself to be equally hilarious.
— big john the boshfather (@Johnfis08605918) January 7, 2026
For anyone somehow unfamiliar with ‘The Boshfather’, there isn’t a single sentence that isn’t completely accurate, and that doesn’t sum up pretty much everything you need to know about the man, the myth, the legend.
Besides his son, Johnny Fisher Jr., being an aspiring boxer and fellow influencer on the side, as well as having appeared on Newsnight to talk about the UK’s multiculturalism being what makes this ‘Great Britain’ (legend), his legacy will very much be written online and on the back of a take-out menu.
Or will it?…
Riding the back of his growing popularity and being quite literally the physical representation of a British bulldog, he’s now preparing to do live shows all over the country.
Set up at the start of the New Year, the 51-year-old will be heading to Manchester city centre and more throughout 2026 for his debut BOSH Bingo tour.
Visiting 12 locations in total, he is promising “rave intervals, on stage competitions, ‘bosh’ prizes and, of course, a sprinkle of chicken balls for good measure.”
Put simply, not only the chaos of everyone’s favourite Bongo’s, “This is not your average bingo night, it’s BOSH BINGO!”
Sounds ridiculous… We’re SO there.
Coming to The Grosvenor on Oxford Road on 21 February, before heading to the likes of Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield, just to name a few, you can grab your tickets right HERE.
Let’s just say there’s some very silly but nevertheless fun and fantastic stuff happening in town this year.
Daisy Jackson -
27th October 2022 
