McDonald’s UK is set to deliver over 1.2 million hours of free football coaching to over half a million kids around the country as their ‘Fun Football’programme returns for 2024, including thousands from all over Manchester.
The global fast food chain is bringing back its successful and crucially accessible football coaching campaign to Greater Manchester this spring, and they’ve also had some England stars helping them spread the word.
With Three Lions and Real Madrid Jude Bellingham star getting on board alongside Lionesses hero and Arsenal forward Beth Mead as Fun Football ambassadors, the scheme is hoping to reach more underprivileged areas than ever and give a reminder that the beautiful game is for everyone.
McDonald’s will be providing numerous free football coaching sessions carried out by FA-qualified coaches in over 1,500 locations across the UK, with plenty taking place right here in 0161. Wonderful.
Sadly, research shows that over half (56%) of children from lower socio-economic backgrounds are inactive due to the associated costs that surround attending sports activities. This is where big brands embroiled in the community come in.
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First set up back in 2018, Maccies’ Fun Football programme has adjusted its centre locations to ensure it can offer over 80% of lower-socio urban areas easy access to the scheme and delivered over five million hours of free football coaching across the nation in the first five years.
In addition, Pan-Disability and Visual Impairment sessions are also set to be offered once again to families up and down the country, as roughly a third of disabled children are said to be currently missing out on the benefits of sport.
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Led by BBC Children in Need and Sporting People, Bellingham and Mead are by no means the first pro footballers to get involved in the wholesome initiative, with the likes of former Blue Micah Richards and current Man City star Jack Grealish getting involved in past years.
More than 100 dedicated coaches were trained up as part of the partnership in 2023, with bespoke modules created with British Blind Sport, Kick It Out and England Futsal in mind.
The aim is to ensure Fun Football coaches can welcome any child and adapt sessions accordingly, as well as offer a physical and educational outlet to as many kids as possible.
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Children aged 5-11 can take part in sessions starting from Saturday, 6 April until Sunday, 14 July all over the region and the UK, and kids of all abilities are being encouraged to give it a try.
To learn more about where in Greater Manchester they’re taking place and when, click HERE.
Bolton fans split opinion with pitch invasion but they were the difference in the play-off semi-final
Danny Jones
The Toughsheet was hit with a huge pitch invasion by Bolton fans after the Wanderers narrowly secured their place in the League One play-off final this week, but the behaviour from those in the stadium has split opinion, to say the least.
Last Friday’s 3-1 win in the away leg gave the Trotters just enough cushion to survive the 3-2 defeat to Barnsley on Tuesday night, scraping through 5-4 on aggregate.
A tense affair was putting it mildly, especially after the home side began to let their two-nil lead from the first half slip and seeing the Tykes get just a goal away from tying things up with over a quarter of an hour still to go.
Bolton boss Ian Evatt put it best by simply saying, “We got the job done”, but as he’s stressed all season long as automatic promotion began to look less and less likely, he didn’t want his players to be premature or complacent come these final weeks. Safe to say the fans didn’t get that memo.
Although many have been defending the supporters for celebrating a massive victory which could see them back in the Championship after five years, not to mention it being the last home game of the season, plenty of others have been labelling the pitch invasion “nothing short of embarrassing”.
There have been countless comments to that effect, with people writing, “Bolton fans are weird. Pitch invasion and they aren’t even promoted yet” and “Pitch invasions for anything nowadays”. One user went so far as to argue, “Even the players must feel embarrassed”.
On the other hand, the defence that many of those are giving is that the Wanderers were close to liquidation just a few short years ago and unable to even pay their players, resorting to roping in academy players and dropping all the way to League Two in the 2020/21 season.
Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that it was a big night for Boltonians and it’s hard to pretend that being part of it would be anything other than up there with your most memorable sporting moments.
As for Evatt, he told BBC Radio Manchester that the crowd was “the best it’s been since I’ve been here”, insisting that “the atmosphere was absolutely incredible” from start to finish.
When you talk of the ‘twelfth man’ in football, it’s these games that come to mind and it’s no exaggeration to say that it was the fans in the stands that helped their team ride out the storm for what must have felt like an eternity.
What do you think, is a pitch invasion before you’ve actually won anything a bit premature or do these lot deserve to soak it all in after how far they’ve come over the past year or so?
Pubs can extend their opening hours if England make it to the Euro 2024 semi-finals
Emily Sergeant
Pubs are to be permitted to extend their opening hours if England make it through to the semi-finals of EURO 2024 this summer.
With the Premier League, and the English and Scottish football leagues, all drawing to a close over the next couple of weeks, our nations are already looking ahead to what is gearing up to be a massive summer of sport – with both the UEFA EURO 2024, and the 2024 Olympics coming up before August is out.
And now, it’s been revealed by Home Secretary James Cleverly that if either England or Scotland’s mens national football teams make it to the semi-final of European football’s flagship tournament, then pubs will be allowed to stay open for longer.
But, there’s a bit of a catch… because isn’t there always?
The Government has said that venues will be allowed to stay open for an extra two hours on match days if either or both teams reach the last four or the final of the competition, but this only applies to pubs that already have a license to open until 11pm anyway.
The move to extend opening hours comes after a consultation at the end of last year, and is hoped to provide a boost to the hospitality industry – which has notably been hit hard during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
The Home Secretaries in England and Wales, under Section 172 of the Licensing Act 2003, can make an order relaxing licensing hours to mark occasions of “exceptional national significance”, but the Scottish and Northern Irish Governments have to set their own rules.
“We have listened to the public through our consultation,” explained Home Secretary James Cleverley, “and we will be extending pub licensing hours should England or Scotland reach the semi-finals or final of Euro 2024.”
The EURO 2024 semi-finals are to be held on Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 July / Credit: UEFA
Mr Cleverley said the move will “allow friends, families and communities to come together for longer to watch their nation hopefully bring it home”.
This legislation is set to be laid in Parliament today (Wednesday 8 May) to ensure there is enough time for it to be debated and passed before the tournament begins on Friday 14 June, the Government has confirmed.