Having a kick about is one of life’s simple pleasures. Just grab a ball, your boots, some mates and you’re good to go, right? That is until the inevitable excuses pop up on WhatsApp with an hour to go and suddenly you’re scrambling for a ringer to keep your so-called ‘weekly’ five-a-side match alive.
Another night is followed by the usual “Sorry, maybe next week” message and you’re left wondering why getting a footy game going with few friends isn’t as easy as it was when you were younger. If only there was an app for that…
For those in the know, there is one name that’s actually helping make sorting a regular five-a-side night or even a quick pick-up game in and around Greater Manchester that little bit easier and more social than ever.
Footy Addicts, the football-based social networking platform, are on a mission to make the beautiful game easier and more inclusive across the region and the UK at large.
The app, founded by self-proclaimed footy addicts Konstantinos Gkortsilas, Danny Taeidy and Jonathan Suarez, aims to make quality football matches — be it a straight-forward five/seven-a-side game or a bigger affair — happen across Great Britain and, if they carry on how they’re going, the world.
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When you sit and think about it, it’s one of these ideas where you wonder, ‘How hasn’t this been thought of before?’ From the first unofficial pick-up game back in 2010 to what has now grown to a community of over 210,000 users across 140 active locations, the proof is in the pudding.
Not only is the demand obviously there but it just goes to show how important opportunity and accessibility are when it comes to playing the game so many of us love.
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Footy Addicts’ biggest goal is ensuring that wherever you are, you’ll only be a button away from a game — and the stats don’t lie. Now growing by a rate of more than 5,000 new users each month with players from over 200 different countries, it just goes to show how a simple kickabout can help enrich diverse communities a game at a time.
Whether you are a first-timer, Sunday league Messi or ‘could’ve gone pro if it wasn’t for my knee’, there’s a spot on the team sheet for all abilities.
Just to highlight some of the regulars in the Manchester scene, this could be your squad lining up alongside you next time you stick a bib on under the lights: lifelong Burnley supporter James is still going strong at 70 and nutmegging students. You can’t drag him away from the pitch.
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Marc used to ply his trade in the Premier League but now gets his football fix in a more casual setting and Nadia is a semi-pro female footballer who’ll happily show up the best of them.
The importance of running around after a ball for an hour or so is far more than the scoreline; it’s like therapy for the mind and body. The escapism, confidence and community that blossoms when you step on a pitch is what keeps the world hooked on the beautiful game. And, that’s not to mention the obvious physical benefits.
Footy Addicts are also brilliant at spotlighting the sporting stories that mean so much to local communities — including here in Manchester.
Available to download from the Google Play and Apple App Store, or by simply using their website, it’s not quite as easy as clicking your fingers but it’s close enough.
It goes without saying that Footy Addicts organise games all over Manchester. Just whack in your postcode and see if there is a place and time that suits you. It’s also pay-as-you-play, with no monthly subscriptions or signing-on fees, just dust off your boots and head down.
Prices start at only £3.50 a game with the average price of around a fiver, which in this day and age is great value for footy.
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See you on a pitch in Greater Manchester sometime soon.
There are literally tonnes of Footy Addicts games taking place around Greater Manchester every week.
The 2026 World Breaking Finals of the UK B-Boy Championships are coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s official: the UK B-Boy Championships are returning to Manchester this year for the 2026 World Breaking Finals, in what is a special anniversary for the annual tournament.
Celebrating three decades since the inaugural event this summer, the UK B-Boy Champs will once again remind fans why they still remain among the gold standard for competitive breakdancing.
With elite breakers and dance battlers from more than 20 different countries in attendance – and plenty of contestants from each, at that – it’s going to be a real global showcase of talent.
Returning to Manchester once again, we can’t wait to see breakdancing take over the Factory International concourse and wider campus.
Anyone in the world will know that the city also hosted another big European equivalent back in 2022 on behalf of the 2022 World DanceSport Federation, but the UK B-Boy Championships have a passionate following of their own.
This also happens to be the 30th anniversary of the event, so it’s a momentous occasion on many levels.
With live music from not only classic artists and legendary MCs, but artists for the future too, there’ll be plenty of tunes and impressive moves from start to finish.
Coming to Aviva Studios this summer, they’ve billed it quite short and sweet: “The sickest breakers on the planet will battle in a once-in-a-generation celebration of Hip-Hop culture.”
They’re promising “High-stakes rivalries. Gravity-defying moves”, and “Unforgettable performances”, adding, “This isn’t just another battle – this is the Champs legacy in motion.”
Credit: Supplied
The World Breaking Finals get underway in Manchester on 16 August at Aviva Studios, and it’s all set up to be arguably the biggest yet.
General admission went on sale this past Friday, 13 March, with adult tickets starting from only £20 and kids from just a tenner.
As we mentioned before, this isn’t the only big sporting date coming to Manchester this year, with the likes of the British basketball’s annual Cup Finals concluding at AO Arena and another big Super League set to for a grandstand finish at our other big indoor entertainment venue…
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via Get the Affects Communications)
Sport
The Premier League and EFL should follow La Liga’s lead and bring Retro Matchdays to the UK
Danny Jones
Following the news that La Liga is set to debut a new ‘Retro Matchday’ round, we can’t help but ask the question: why didn’t the Premier League and EFL think of this first?
Well, technically, neither did the Spaniards, but you take our point.
Anyone who follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or even the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) equivalent here in the UK and mainland Europe, will know that the concept is nothing new – but by and large, it seems to be for the beautiful game.
In case you missed it, in an effort to further capitalise on the increasing trend of vintage and classic football kit fashion/the wider nostalgia culture that only seems to be growing every year, Spain’s top two tiers will soon host their inaugural Retro Matchday gameweek next month, and we want a piece of it.
Set to be hosted from Friday, 10 April, over the usual weekend of football in their premier and second division, and running until the final lot of fixtures on Monday, 13 April (no, thankfully not an April Fool’s), supporters will get to see players step out onto the pitch in some of the country’s most iconic kits.
Depending on who you ask, some would argue that Spain has some of the nicest footy shirts all time, whether that be the national side or clubs themselves.
To be honest, we definitely have a soft spot for a proper European throwback – we’re thinking Borussia Dortmund’s 1995/96 home kit, the Napoli kits of the 80s, that amazing Toyota-sponsored Fila Fiorentina kit at the turn of the millennium – and even some of the best 2000s ones now look so old-school.
In fact, we actually had a taster of these kinds of special matches in the past, including here in 0161 for the likes of the Manchester Derby.
Reminds me of the Manchester derby in 2008 where they played in retro kits due to it coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Looked absolutely brilliant. pic.twitter.com/TLRjKHThbG
When you also take into account that, besides collectors already creating a whole new craze in filling their cupboards with classic kits, the likes of Nike, Adidas and more now regularly turning to old designs like the ‘Futura’, Total 90′ and various ‘adi Originals’ revivals of late, it’s more the rage than ever.
Birmingham’s recent ‘penguin’ remake, Port Vale’s traditional 150th anniversary one, based on their 1953-54 season jersey, not to mention countless other lifestyle fashion collections inspired by historic releases, you can’t move for the stuff – so why not get them wearing it on the grass?
As mentioned, the likes of local ice hockey outfit Manchester Storm have been taking a leaf out of the NHL’s book for ages now, with the annual ‘Retro Nights’ proving to be some of the most popular dates on the calendar, even selling off original shirts in the stadium itself before, during and after the match.
We genuinely can’t think of a single football lover following a team at any level in the English football pyramid that wouldn’t LOVE this. In fact, plenty of them already go to the ground wearing their dad’s second-hand away strip, which has turned out to be a modern cult favourite among the next generation.
These are the kinds of ideas we can see fans actually getting behind; you can find out more HERE. Would you like to see a retro Premier League and/or EFL match day featuring your favourite kits from down the years?
Harry Quick -
30th November 2023 
