When it comes to derby days, there’s an inevitable rivalry accompanying the whole thing – and here in Manchester, we think it’s fair to say that the element of competition is fiercer than most.
So, ahead of the big match on 14 January, digital travel company Booking.com has decided to open a special ‘Half-and-Half House’ – and no, we’re not talking about a colourful community-based offender programme for released prisoners.
This is a half-red, half-blue holiday home, constructed especially for fans who may not see eye to eye when it comes to football and located slap-bang in the middle of Manchester’s two iconic football stadiums on First Street.
Built to champion the city’s diversity, its price even nods to the very first Manchester derby in 1881 – with the house available to be booked for a night’s stay this Thursday for just £18.81.
Credit: Booking.com
Booking.com
Created to celebrate a rivalry which makes Manchester such a special destination, the custom-built, half-red, half-blue house highlights how the city’s passion for football brings people together and signals that healthy rivalry can be fun.
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The Half-and-Half House also celebrates the opening of Booking.com’s new Trips headquarters right here in Manchester.
Having had a presence in the city since 2005, Booking.com has a strong affection for Manchester and the people who live there, and designed the house to recognise Mancunians’ passion for football, as well as everything else which personifies the city.
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Matthias Schmid, Senior Vice President of Booking.com’s Trips Division, said: “Whenever Mancunians travel the globe, often the first thing they are asked is whether they are a ‘red or a blue’. They are brought together by their love of football.
Image: Supplied
“There’s a warmth and vibrancy in Manchester that is unrivalled anywhere else in the world. Even in rare circumstances of apparent division, there is always an underlying unity. Manchester is one, no matter which side you’re on.
“We’ve called this city home for some time, and now have the second biggest Booking.com office in the world here, with a fantastic team from over 70 different countries coming together to make it easier for everyone to experience the world.
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“With Manchester making this all possible, we naturally wanted to create a buzz around the city and celebrate the people who live here.”
Journalist and author Andy Mitten, Editor of the iconic United We Stand magazine and an expert on the cultural impact of football in Manchester and author of a book on derbies around the world, said: “The Manchester derby is one of the biggest in world football and it’s the fans who are at the heart of making it such a spectacle, be it at the stadium or watching from around the globe.
“The derby is tribal, but most Reds have mates who are Blues and vice versa. We may have different loyalties in football but it’s the fans who help make the derby what it, bring the atmosphere and make Manchester such a great football city and place to visit.
“So many people around the world associate the word ‘Manchester’ with football and the derby is when it all comes to a head. Both sets of fans can’t be happy at the end of the game, which adds to the tension and excitement in the build-up…”
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With the red and blue house set to be removed soon after full time of the derby, Booking.com is donating the vibrant celebration of the city to Manchester’s Scouts for use at its Worsley camp.
The one-night Manchester Half-and-Half Experience is available for a lucky pair of bookers on 12 January, 2023. The stay will become bookable exclusively on Booking.com on 11 January 2023 at 10am.
The room will be secured on a first come first serve basis. You can book your stay HERE.
Manchester’s historic Portico Library secures £6.4m funding grant towards its transformation
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s Portico Library has secured a whopping £6.4 million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
In case you missed it, ambitious plans to transform the historic Grade II-listed building on Mosely Street were already unveiled last October… but now, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has announced it is committing £6.4 million of funding towards the project, hoping that the building thrives as the UK’s most sustainable historic library for generations to come.
The grant is being described as a ‘major milestone’ in the approximately £12 million Portico Reunited project.
The Portico Reunited project will look to ‘reunite’ the historic building’s three floors for the first time in over a century, creating a fully-accessible and sustainable cultural library.
Founded all the way back in 1806, The Portico Library played a central role in Manchester’s rise as the world’s first modern city, and since then has been serving as a window into the past and a providing a place of inspiration for anyone who needs it.
The Portico Library has secured a £6.4m funding grant towards its transformation / Credit: Purcell Architecture (Supplied)
Crucially, plans will see a step-free entrance and lift installed to make the library accessible to all.
There’ll also be new exhibition and event spaces introduced as part of the scheme to explore the stories of Manchester’s communities and the city’s heritage. There will a Northern Bookshop, showcasing regional and emerging writers, and independent publishers, as well as a creative Portico Kitchen, which will celebrate the city’s food culture, writing, and history.
A place for school groups, families, and all people to explore Portico’s collection and experiment creatively also forms part of the plans.
Dr Thom Keep, Librarian and CEO of The Portico Library, called the funding grant a ‘landmark moment’ in the Portico’s ‘rich and complex history’, and a ‘huge achievement’ for its staff, trustees, volunteers, and partners.
“Thanks to National Lottery players, we can reunite this extraordinary building and make room for people to discover, learn and create together,” he added.
“We have listened to thousands of people about what the Portico could become, and their ideas and experiences have helped shape these plans.
“Our ambition is a library that belongs to the whole city – a place to discover remarkable collections, question the stories we have inherited, and create new possibilities together.”
Manchester City Council has granted planning permission and listed building consent for the project, and the building is expected to close for construction in late spring 2028 and reopen once again in early March 2030.
Following reopening, the transformed library is expected to welcome around 95,000 visitors each year.
Featured Image – Purcell Architecture (Supplied)
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New data estimates that 7.3m Oasis fans are set to miss out on 2027 tour tickets
Emily Sergeant
New data has revealed that as many as 7.3 million Oasis fans could be set to miss out on tickets to the band’s 2027 tour.
In case you need bringing up to speed a little, it was announced earlier this week that, following the unprecedented success of the reunion tour, Oasis Live ’25, last year, including five nostalgia-drenched gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park, Oasis would be hitting the road once again in 2027, and this time around, they’re going BIG.
We’re talking 11 nights at the Etihad Stadium and a return to the iconic grounds of Knebworth for four special shows there too, kind of ‘big’.
The iconic Manchester band will also be taking to a range of other world-famous stages across the globe, including five nights at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, and major cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Las Vegas.
But despite the elevated number of dates the Gallaghers and co will be performing, some new data has unfortunately revealed that millions of fans may still not be lucky enough to snag a ticket.
The ticketing system for Oasis Live ’27 is not what it was for the last tour, nor will it be similar to many other tours of a similar scale in the past either, as this time, the band and their promotors are taking necessary measures to ensure ‘genuine fans’ get their hands on the tickets and that dynamic pricing doesn’t creep in.
Instead of going into detail on that now though, you can read our full guide on how to get tickets for the Manchester and Knebworth shows here.
Experts at online ticketing platform TicketSource have analysed the scale of demand for Oasis tickets by comparing the 10 million fans worldwide who queued for the initial release of 1.4 million tickets for their 2025 tour, with the newly announced 2027 tour dates and stadium capacities.
With an estimated 2.67 million tickets available across 38 dates and 11 locations between 21 May and 19 September 2027, Oasis could still face huge demand from fans hoping to see them live.
But research reveals the band would need to play 112 Wembley-sized shows to accommodate everyone who tried to get a ticket in 2025.
The 2027 tour would accommodate just 26.7% of those who tried to get tickets last time, meaning almost three-quarters (73%) of them could miss out, leaving a shortfall of more than 7.3 million fans.
Fingers crossed you’re among the lucky lot that secure tickets, though.
Featured Image – Joshua Halling (Press Image – Supplied)
Georgina Pellant -
11th January 2023 
