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Legendary football commentator John Motson dies aged 77

For many football fans, their earliest memories of watching the beautiful game were narrated by his instantly recognisable voice.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 23rd February 2023

It’s a sad day for English football as legendary football commentator John Motson has died aged 77.

As confirmed by the BBC on Thursday, 23 February, the Salford-born sports commentator and iconic football voice passed away after more than 50 years in broadcasting.

The man best known as ‘Motty’ covered 10 World Cups, 10 European Championships, 29 FA Cup finals and an incredible 2,500 televised games for BBC Sport before retiring in 2018.

As David Baddiel paid tribute on social media, for many, the news “feels impossible” as John Motson was “a voice that, at one time, was football.”

Unsurprisingly, social media is awash with tributes and messages paying their respects to the truly great and historic sporting personality.

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From his comforting voice to the instantly recognizable sheepskin coat back in his heyday, Motson was synonymous with English football for over half a century.

Commentary doesn’t get much more spine-tingling than this:

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Joining Match of the Day all the way back in 1971 after finishing his playing career at Dulwich Hamlet FC.

Motson went on to become one of the most recognisable commentators in the sport’s history, sharing his voice with multiple generations of football fans.

His final game for MoTD was between Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion in 2018.

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Rest in peace to a Manchester icon and an absolute football legend.

Featured Image — BBC

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Benjamin Mendy wins legal case against Manchester City over unpaid wages

Danny Jones Danny Jones Benjamin Mendy wins legal cause against Manchester City over unpaid wages

Ex-Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy has officially won the legal case against his former employers over unpaid wages.

The French defender was suspended from Man City without pay in September 2021 after being charged with six counts of rape and one instance of sexual assault before ultimately leaving the club last June.

Despite multiple allegations and the high-profile case going to trial in August 2022, Mendy was eventually cleared of all counts in July 2023 and has been demanding he receive his ‘lost’ finances earned at the Etihad ever since.

Mendy took legal action against City last November and now, nearly a full year on, the 30-year-old fullback has won his claim against them and is expected to receive most of the outstanding wages accumulated while he was in custody and on bail, as he was still unable to play due to FA sanctions.

As detailed in an official judgement summary, “The result of this decision is that Mr Mendy will be entitled to receive the majority of his unpaid salary, although not all of it.”

The former Premier League star initially entered into an employment tribunal to claim around £11 million in compensation for the wages he missed out on during the period between his suspension in September 2021 and City letting him go in the summer of 2023.

Mendy’s wages were worth around £500,000 a month after joining the Manchester club back in 2017 for a then-world-record fee for a defender, £52m. While he was unsuccessful in claiming all unpaid wages back, City are expected to hand over approximately £8.5m.

Writing on social media, the Frenchman welcomed the decision which found that the club had “unlawfully made deductions from my wages for a total period of 16 months and 23 days.”

Mendy urged the club to do the “honourable thing” and pay the outstanding wages promptly, along with other amounts included in his contract, so as to “finally put this difficult part of my life behind me.”

He went on to conclude the statement by thanking family, agent and legal team for their support and while it’s unclear how soon Man City will be forced to cough up the sum, the footballer will be playing this weekend as usual. You can read his full statement down below:

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The club themselves are yet to respond to the decision but will be required to pay out the number within a certain period by law. Mendy has been back playing football in his home country at Ligue 2 club, FC Lorient, who he signed for just days after being acquitted even despite huge backlash.

It was only a few weeks ago that City were on the winning side of legal action after successfully shrugging off the Premier League’s restrictions on sponsorship rules.

Meanwhile, their well-publicised case against UEFA and the outstanding 115+ charges regarding FFP and PSR has now begun but isn’t expected to be settled for some time.

You can find out more down below.

The hearing over Manchester City’s 115 FFP charges will officially start next week

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Featured Images — Soccer.ru (via Wikimedia Commons)/The Manc Group

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Three arrested after Bonfire Night chaos sees fireworks thrown at Manchester police and fire fighters

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Three males have been arrested after fireworks were thrown at police officers and fire fighters in Manchester last night.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said officers were called out and quickly responded to reports of a large group of young people causing disorder and damage by lighting a fire on waste ground and throwing fireworks and missiles on Vine Street in Gorton just after 4:15pm on Bonfire Night yesterday (5 November).

Upon attending, fireworks were aimed at police officers and also colleagues from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), but thankfully, no injuries were sustained.

An investigation was immediately launched following shocking incident, GMP confirmed – with three males, aged between 16 and 18, all arrested on suspicion of causing violent disorder.

They remain in custody for questioning at this time, with further arrests expected to follow.

The police are now appealing to the public for information, with Superintendent Richard McNamara, of GMP’s City of Manchester North District, saying: “It is shocking that we are seeing fireworks being used as a weapon towards emergency services as they try and keep our communities safe.”

He continued: “We know incidents like this will rightly cause concern to members of the local community and those people who enjoyed Bonfire Night safely.

Police on the scene of Bonfire Night disorder in Gorton / Credit: GMP

“But I want to reassure the public that this is an isolated incident, which was dealt with very quickly by local neighbourhood officers with assistance from officers from our Specialist Operations branch, who brought the incident to a safe conclusion.

“We have also worked alongside our partners in the area throughout the evening by deploying joint patrols with youth services and colleagues in the fire service.”

Superintendent McNamara added that investigating officers are “pursuing several lines of enquiry that will ensure that all those responsible are brought to justice”.

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Anyone with any information is asked to come forward and speak to GMP by contacting 101, quoting incident number 2294 of 5/11/24, or details can instead be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Featured Image – GMP

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