Sport
Altrincham FC receive £1.5m cash injection as 20 new investors back the club
'It's more than an investment in football. It is an investment in our community.'
Altrincham FC has received a cash injection of an estimated £1.5 million after a group of UK business investors have now backed the club.
The Trafford-based team currently compete in the National League and have now welcomed 20 new British investors as they look to continue developing the club and move further up the football pyramid.
With those involved said to be “leading UK business people with a direct connection to the local community”, the goal is to not only progress on the pitch but improve their football operations across the board, update the Moss Lane stadium and invest in the local area.
A big step forward for a club that only recently registered as professionals.
Informing the fan base in an official statement, the club said, “The new investors will own a significant minority between them and have invested with the aim of supporting the Board’s vision of building sustainable success and the leading local community-focused football club in the country.”
Detailing their backgrounds, they explained that the new parties “come from a range of industries including finance, media, property, technology and e-commerce, [bringing] a range of skills to support the club with its exciting plans for growth.”
The full list of backers is yet to be confirmed but one of them, Shalni Arora — of the Alder Hey Children’s Foundation Trust Hospital, Chair of the Innovation Committee and CEO of the Savannah Wisdom charity — stated that “investing in Altrincham FC is more than an investment in football. It is an investment in our community…
“It is such an exciting opportunity to make a difference to those who live, work and play in our local area… We are a group of shareholders who are passionate about football and how a local club can have a powerful, positive impact on community relations.”
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Lawrence Looney, Co-Chair of Altrincham FC, said: “The club has made great progress in recent years moving up two divisions and establishing itself as a full-time professional club.
“We are delighted to welcome our new investors who are completely aligned with our values and strategy and are passionate about football and the real impact the club can have on the local community.
“Aside from the financial aspect, we believe that this group brings a unique breadth and depth of expertise. This investment should enable the club to accelerate its growth plans while maintaining its prudent approach to ensure the club has a strong, sustainable and exciting future.”
The money might not sound like much in the grand scale of football finances, but for a club the size of Alty it could prove truly transformative. We love a local success story and we can’t wait to see The Robins keep building this season and beyond.
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Image — Altrincham FC
Sport
Academy graduate Oscar Bobb is leaving Manchester City on a permanent transfer
Danny Jones
Manchester City youth academy graduate Oscar Bobb is leaving the club after sealing a move to Fulham FC.
Despite plenty of loan interest throughout the January transfer window, the Man City attacker has secured a switch to the in-form West London team on a permanent basis.
Bobb looked increasingly likely to leave in some capacity following the arrival of another winger in the form of instant hit, Antoine Semenyo, but it now looks as though his departure is all but confirmed, bar an imminent official announcement.
As reported by Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, the agreement has now been reached between the two clubs pending a full medical today (Thursday, 29 January).
According to Romano, Fulham will pay Man City approximately £27 million for Bobb’s services, who becomes the latest addition in what has already been a fairly busy period of recruitment.
He goes on to add that “City also mantain [a] 20% sell-on clause, matching rights and future control on the player based on his decision.”
There is no suggestion of a buy-back clause at this time, but given his age and having already made a fair few appearances for Pep Guardiola‘s first team, it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility to see him return to the club one day.
Bobb also arrives at Craven Cottage following the exit of multiple wingers and offensive options, including Adama Traore, ex-Man United product Andreas Pereira and Arsenal youngster, Reiss Nelson, whose loan deal has expired and has signed another temporary deal at local rivals, Brentford.
A similar scenario played out with James Trafford at the start of this season, though it now looks as though the young keeper could once again leave before the end of the month. Many City supporters understandably have some mixed feelings about both situations.
The young Norwegian winger joined the Etihad Campus back in 2023 and went on to contribute a handful of goals and assists, despite limited appearances and some very unfortunate injury issues.
Only seven months ago, his soon-to-be former parent club released a short video charting his return from the sidelines after fracturing his leg – a setback which kept him out for roughly five months.
Plenty of fans have quickly placed him in the so-called ‘what if?’ category of players, and given that he’s still just 22 years old and has already impressed on a number of ocassions for such a big club, we wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on to have a very exciting career.
Can you see the Blues bringing in or letting anyone else go before deadline day?
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Featured Images — pantkiewicz (via Flickr)/El Loko (via WikiCommons)/Man City (via YouTube)
Sport
Tyson Fury has officially revealed his comeback fight after coming out of ‘retirement’ once again
Danny Jones
Tyson Fury has officially announced the opponent for his comeback fight after yet again returning to professional boxing.
Fury supposedly ‘retired’ for seemingly the umpteenth time last January following his second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk the month prior, and some even believed it might have actually been his final outing.
Nevertheless, ‘The Gypsy King’ said he was coming out of retirement once more earlier this year, and now his next match-up has been confirmed.
Revealing the other contender as Aslanbek Makhmudo, the fight will be aired live on Netflix only.
Partnered exclusively with boxing magazine, Ring, the bout between Fury and Makhmudo is the latest big fight night to be picked up by the streaming giants.
The most recent example was, obviously, Anthony Joshua’s brutal knockout of influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul this past December.
Makhmudo, just a year younger than his opposite number, is a fellow experienced heavyweight based mainly out of Canada with a decent pedigree of his own.
The Russian, simply known as ‘The Lion’, has a record of 21 wins – more than half of those coming by KO.
With that in mind, he presents a potentially exciting prospect for the famous Manchester fighter, who hasn’t won a proper competitive fight since the defence of his WBC belt against Derek Chisora in December 2022.
Similarly, this should at least see two very well-seasoned pros going head to head.
He did fight MMA veteran Francis Ngannou in a one-off exhibition, but there was no title or anything tangible on the line.
In fact, even Fury himself admitted it was a “below par” showing.
Many fight fans would argue that there haven’t been enough proper big heavyweight dates since Fury vs Usyk, and even then, we are still yet to get a date for the all-but fully confirmed final fight of the trilogy.
Fury himself did state that the conclusion of their clash is scheduled for this April, but nothing official has been set in stone by any promotion or venue and the new date means it’s even less likely to be any time soon; meanwhile, plenty are still hoping for AJ vs Fury.
The 37-year-old will take on Makhmudo on Saturday, 11 April, and you can bet the world will be watching.
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Featured Images — FurociTV (via YouTube)/Netflix/Ring Magazine/@Mike_DiDomizio(via X)
