News

GMP is ‘thoroughly’ investigating online racial abuse aimed at Manchester United players

"These hateful words have no place anywhere in our society whether online or otherwise".

The Manc The Manc - 1st February 2021

Greater Manchester Police has confirmed the launch of an investigation into the racist comments sent to a number of Manchester United players over social media.

The force confirmed the intervention in an official statement released yesterday.

It comes as after a number of prominent Premier League players revealed that they have received racist abuse in the past seven days, with Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial having all been targeted, alongside Romaine Sawyers of West Bromwich Albion, and Chelsea’s Reece James.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed it was aware of a number of incidents having occurred on social media between Wednesday 27th – Saturday 30th January.

The statement read: “We are aware of a number of Manchester United football players suffering abuse on social media accounts between [Wednesday and Saturday]. Nobody should be subject to such abuse and it is deeply upsetting not only to those who suffer it, but to all those who come across this awful language too.

“These hateful words have no place anywhere in our society whether online or otherwise.

“A number of these comments have been reported to us and we are liaising with those involved to provide support and we will be investigating these crimes thoroughly.”

In a series of tweets on Saturday night, 22-year-old Wythenshawe-born Manchester United and England star Marcus Rashford – who was last year awarded an MBE for his ongoing work fighting child food poverty – revealed that he had been the target of racial abuse, but had chosen not to share its contents.

They were sent to the England striker following Manchester United’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal, and the striker responded describing the comments as “humanity and social media at its worst”.

He continued: “Yes I’m a black man and I live every day proud that I am.

“No one, or no one comment, is going to make me feel any different, so sorry if you were looking for a strong reaction, you’re just simply not going to get it here”.

In a follow-up tweet, Rashford stated that he would not be posting / linking to examples of the racial abuse he had received, adding that: “It would be irresponsible to do so and as you can imagine there’s nothing original in them”.

He continued: “I have beautiful children of all colours following me and they don’t need to read it. Beautiful colours that should only be celebrated”.

The official statement issued by Greater Manchester Police joins statements released by several other authorities and governing bodies, including the FA (Football Association), which had reiterated its commitment to clamping down on discrimination of all kinds earlier on Saturday.

An FA statement read: “We are united with all of football in our abhorrence of any racist abuse,

“This is not acceptable in any part of society.

“We will continue to work with the rest of the game, the government and social media platforms to remove this – and all elements of – discrimination from our sport.”

Earlier in the week, Manchester United released an official statement addressing racial abuse received by players following a Premier League fixture against Sheffield United on Wednesday 27th January, which read: “Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse received by players via social media after last night’s game.

“We utterly condemn it and it is encouraging to see other fans condemn this on social media also.

“Manchester United has zero tolerance of any form of racism or discrimination and a long-standing commitment to campaigning against it through our All Red All Equal initiative.

“Identifying these anonymous mindless idiots remains problematic.

“We urge social media platforms and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour.“

Addressing the recent incidents, a spokesperson for Facebook – which also owns Instagram – said: “There is no place for racism on Facebook and Instagram and we are committed to removing it when we find it. We know there is more to do and we will continue to work closely with clubs, players and football authorities to investigate instances of discrimination and collectively tackle this issue.”

A statement released by Twitter read: “Racist behaviour has no place on our service and when we identify accounts that violate any of the Twitter Rules, we take enforcement action.

“We have proactively engaged and continue to collaborate with our valued partners in football to identify ways to tackle this issue collectively and will continue to play our part in curbing this unacceptable behaviour – both online and offline.”

The incidents also come after it was confirmed that the UK government last week held a meeting with several leading black figures within the game to discuss the problem of online abuse, and they are expected to present a new online harms bill before parliament this year.

The government says this bill will “require tech firms to take action so that what is unacceptable in the street and in stands is unacceptable online too”.

News

What we know about Oasis’ Heaton Park reunion shows based on their first comeback gig in Cardiff

Danny Jones Danny Jones All the info we know about Oasis Live '25 reunion night 1 Cardiff

Ok, so there’s no more need to pinch ourselves or double-take every time we check our phone: Oasis aren’t just back together, they’ve now kicked off the reunion and following those incredible Cardiff scenes, we’re already thinking about what this means for their Heaton Park homecoming.

There simply isn’t a brick-and-mortar Manchester venue big enough to hold as many Manc fans as want, need and deserve to see them back on stage after waiting all this time, so it’s only fitting that barely a month on from Parklife, the massive outdoor space will welcome us all back to witness history.

Quite literally millions of people tuned into various livestreams on Friday evening to see Oasis return at the Principality Stadium, so lots of you will have already seen plenty from the colossal concert – including that bald bloke balancing a pint on his head – but there was, understandably, a lot to take in.

So, with that being said, here’s what we hope, we think, we know about Oasis’ highly anticipated Heaton Park shows based solely on the details we gleaned from Cardiff night one.

The timings (roughly)

For starters, one of the most important things fans will be hoping to know is when Oasis got back on stage, as well as the set times of the other ‘Live ’25‘ support acts.

Liam, as per usual, was the mouthier of the two Gallagher brothers and let the cat out of the bag early on X (Twitter), before being clearly told off by management and deleting the details shortly after; still, it was confirmed that the main event for Friday and Saturday night gets underway at 8:15pm.

However, these things are always subject to change, as both Richard Aschroft and Cast were slightly premature on night one in Cardiff, and who knows what other arenas will be like for the rest of the reunion tour?

Credit: Oasis (via Instagram)/Dianne Bourne (screenshot via X)

The Live ’25 setlist – or at least on night one

Another big debate online that has raged ever since the Oasis reunion was confirmed is the subject of what they’re going to play from their extensive catalogue.

Obviously, most people could rattle off most of the all-time favourites and cobbble together a pretty decent ‘greatest hits’ of Oasis setlist, but people have been more concerned with what the opener, closing track, and encore will be.

Having watched all of these moments back multiple times already, we can confirm the first track was the classic intro ‘F***in’ in the Bushes’, as many fans suspected, followed by ‘Hello’ as the first full song, rather fittingly.

As for the last track in the main running order, the crowd got to bounce up and down to ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ before the legendary ‘Champagne Supernova’ beckoned the very end of the first night in Cardiff.

They’ll still be reactive

That being said, this inaugural comeback show was somewhat of a pilot for the rest of the ‘Live ’25 world tour, which now totals more than 40 dates, and any good artist knows that tweaking the setlist from show to show can be key to not only to success, but keeping things fresh for you and the audience.

As a result, we wouldn’t be surprised if you see Oasis mix things up as the nights roll on, especially when playing multiple gigs in the same city as they’re doing pretty much everywhere for this reunion.

That flexibility isn’t just limited to song choice either: Liam did his famous twist on the ‘Wonderwall’ lyrics and told the crowd, “There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don’t speak Welsh”, and in case you haven’t seen it already, they also took a moment to honour a late Liverpool star.

Gallagher brothers pay touching tribute to Diogo Jota on first night of Oasis reunion tour
There were lots of little details on night one in Cardiff, but this was a very nice touch from Oasis.

A bigger focus on production than ever

The glimpse at the AV presentation seen above is just a small taster too. From the various clips we’ve seen on social media over the last 24 hours or so, Oasis aren’t just back playing music together, but they’ve levelled significantly in terms of production and stage design.

In fairness, so too has the music indusry as a whole – you’d be hard-pressed to found a tech team that could pull of the pre-gig light-show they put on in the days leading up to night one at the Principality – but it was still cool to see the greatest rock band in the world be given a proper big budget backdrop.

For instance, you can see what flashed on the gigantic screens behind them as they walked out in front of more than 70,000 in Cardiff down below.

What a way to make an entrance…

Blues, through and through

Now, if you’ve ever been to see either of the brothers’ solo shows, you’ll know that football and, more specifically, references to Man City, often feature at some point.

Noel, in particular, has maintained a strong City presence in his set, be it the blue colour palette, the MCFC badge, or even a tall cut-out of manager Pep Guardiola half during most High Flying Birds gigs.

Cardiff night one was no different as his LG instructed the crowd to turn around and do the familiar ‘Poznan’ celebration regularly seen up in the stands of the Etihad Stadium.

The bitterness had turned to banter

It was bits of comedy like this that’s been one of the biggest part we’ve missed about Oasis; both Liam and Noel have always been very humorous in their own ways over the years, but they were never funnier than in those old clips you see of them cracking each other up in their younger days.

Despite being estranged for more than a decade and a half and who knows how many years of bad blood overall, they look to have at least put it to one side and what was once a combative back and forth from a distance has circled back around to brotherly banter – or at least we hope it has.

We’re not going to pretend they absolutely adore all of a sudden, but they’re at least trying and recognising each other’s roles.

They actually seem to like each other again

As you can see, those snaps of them smiling during the first reunion photo shoot back together don’t appear to be just for show.

Seeing the two of them walk out holding hands sent the internet into an absolute frenzy of emotion and had people joking that they were finally going to message their own troublesome relative and at least try to mend fences.

But that was just one small moment.

The duo have always admired and respected their respective talents, but for the first time in even longer than the 16-year hiatus itself, it seems like there’s some genuine love there again. See for yourself:

They’re still as massive as they ever were – if not more so

All this is to say that, in short, Oasis’ first comeback show in Cardiff isn’t just the start of the ‘Live ’25 reunion tour that will span the globe, it’s also confirmation of something people began to question in their lengthy absence…

They really are the biggest and, in so many people’s opinions (including our own), the greatest rock band of all time.

From what we can tell, it feels like one of those watershed music moments where you have be there in person to truly see and believe it – not to be part of some exclusive ‘I was there’ comeback, but because we can’t thing of any other reunion that has had this kind of impact.

Roll on the five nights at Heaton Park and strap in, folks, because you will never forget it.

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Featured Images — Oasis (via X)/Finnlay K (via Instagram)

News

Gallagher brothers pay touching tribute to Diogo Jota on first night of Oasis reunion tour

Danny Jones Danny Jones Oasis pay tribute to Diogo Jota in Cardiff

It’s official, Oasis are actually back, and during the first date on their reunion tour in Cardiff, the Gallagher brothers paid a touching tribute to Liverpool FC player Diogo Jota.

News of Jota’s passing broke on Thursday morning, after it was confirmed that the Liverpool forward was involved in a car crash along with his brother, Andre Felipe Silva.

Using the iconic track ‘Live Forever’ as the perfect opportunity to pay their respects, the screen behind them flashed up with his shirt.

Here’s the moment it happened:

A lovely touch from the Burnage boys and die-hard Blues, not to mention done rather cleverly given the song choice.

Taken from their legendary debut album, Definitely Maybe, the 1994 track is regularly voted ‘the best British song of all time’ – and moments like these only reaffirm why it connects with people so strongly.

What’s even more moving is the slight swell of noise you hear from the crowd; even on a night where quite literally all eyes were on them and the inaugural night of the ‘Live ’25’ tour, they made sure to shed some light on the bigger picture.

You could even see some fans in the crowd holding up Portugal flags in honour of the late LFC star.

Manchester City themselves – who boast a number of Portuguese players like Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Matheus Nune – were among countless clubs who shared their condolences with Liverpool in the aftermath of the 28-year-old’s tragic death.

Scouse support band Cast also dedicated one of their songs to Jota earlier in the evening.

Put simply, Friday, 4 July 2025, at the Principality Stadium was always going to be one that went down as one of the biggest concerts in decades, but this small gesture from a pair of footy fans no doubt made it even more special for any supporters who happened to be in the crowd.

And, indeed, the thousands watching at home, as even before the tidal wave clips began to appear online, there were multiple livestreams of the show on YouTube and various other platforms.

While most of these were ultimately taken down (not before we saw that legend balancing a pint of blue WKD on his head), there was no chance of keeping this one in the building.

We saw the setlist, we heard the noise; we saw them holding hands, and we even saw them hugging as they walked off. On a night were they chose to spotlight family in more ways than one, Oasis and those who are sadly no longer around to see them ‘Live Forever’ in the memory of millions.

Read more:

Transport ‘masterplan’ announced as more than 300,000 fans hit Manchester for Oasis reunion gigs

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Nick Newell/Oasis (via X)

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