A beloved Prestwich chip shop has been named amongst the UK’s best for the second year running – and its owners are absolutely overjoyed.
Prestwich chippy Chips @ No.8 was named amongst the very best in the country by 2022 Fry Magazine Awards, alongside two other Greater Manchester chippies – The Little Chippy in Tyldesley and Wigan’s The Fish at Goose Green.
And with this year’s pass mark set high at 96%, Chips @ No.8 scored an impressive 98% – with the mystery diner particularly praising the high quality, freshly cooked to order food, the friendly and professional staff and eco-friendly packaging.
In a series of ebullient social media posts, Chips @ No.8’s owner Dan Edwards shared his amazement that, out of over 10,500 chippies, his had made it into the Top 50 for two years now.
Image: Chips @ No.8
He wrote: “Wow! What a day! We’ve just found out that out of over 10,500 fish and chip shops, our little chippy down a side street in P-Town has made @frymagazine Top 50 fish and chip takeaways in the country for the 2nd year running!!!”
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Continuing in another post, he revealed that when he opened the shop four years ago he didn’t even like fish and chips, and had only fried three fish in his life.
Having sunk ‘almost everything’ he had into doing the shop up and spending the rest down the road at All The Shapes manchester on ‘breaks’, six months later he opened his doors for a moment of truth.
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How the shop looked before Dan renovated it. / Image: Chips @ No.8
How the chip shop looks now, four years and two awards later. / Image: Chips @ No.8
He called the move “a moment of madness”, and said that he had “just wanted to be my own boss” – adding “I either sank or swam… fortunately, I discovered I was incredibly bouyant.”
He’s not wrong. Locals absolutely rave about his little chip shop down a side street. And now it’s been awarded with a national gong, too.
“Two and a half years later we were listed in the UK’s best 50 chippies out of over 10,000 shops, and we have no plans to rest on our laurels,” he finished.
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In an additional comment, he told The Manc: “To have made the list two years running is an incredible achievement and the whole team can be very proud of themselves.
“We try to provide all our customers with a great all round experience every time they visit and that means we have to be continually on top of our game.
“We use only the finest, locally sourced ingredients, we fry in beef dripping and our fish is delivered fresh every day, caught in UK waters by UK fisheries. You can taste the freshness and it really makes a difference”
Image: The Little Chippy, Tyldesley
To choose the winners for this year’s Fry Magazine Awards, mystery diners sampled thousands of portions of fish and chips from shops up and down the country.
Alongside Chips @ No.8, Tyldesley’s The Little Chippy and The Fish at Goose Green in Wigan also made it into this year’s top 50 – with The Fish at Goose Green taking home the gong for the third year running.
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All takeaways and restaurants that entered will receive their mystery dining report, a winner’s poster and plaque to proudly display in their shop.
Reece Head, competition organiser, commented: “We’re so pleased to announce this year’s winners. The awards recognise and celebrate the hard work, passion and dedication that these operators put into running their businesses.
“It’s been a tough couple of years for the industry, in particular for restaurants that have had to deal with closures, but operators continued to adapt, motivate their workforce and invest in new equipment and systems that have seen them come out the other side stronger and in a better position.
“Our 50 Best Takeaway and 10 Best Restaurant winners really do represent the best in the business and they continue to showcase fish and chips as a high quality, value for money meal.”
Feature image – Chips @ No. 8
News
Micah Richards reveals dad ‘unexpectedly’ died shortly before going on air for England v Argentina last night
Emily Sergeant
Micah Richards has revealed that his dad died shortly before he went on air for the World Cup semi final last night.
The former right back – who most-notably played for Manchester City for a decade from 2005-2015, and for the England national team from 2006-2012 – was one of the BBC’s pundits providing on-air analysis last night as England faced Argentina in a highly anticipated semi final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup last night.
The two teams faced off in Atlanta, and while goals came from both sides, it was ultimately Argentina that reigned supreme – securing a 2-1 win over the Three Lions.
But while much of the country is grieving the fact that football won’t be ‘coming home’ (well, for another two years at least), Richards is grieving on a deeper level.
He took to Instagram after the loss last night to share with his 1.4m followers that shortly before he went on air, his father Lincoln passed away ‘unexpectedly’ – calling him the ‘proudest parent possible’ in a touching tribute.
“He has left us all too soon,” Richards began in his tribute.
“Hwas my greatest fan. He barely missed a game my entire life. He would take me wherever I needed to go when I was a kid and he was the proudest parent possible during my professional career. It was so rare for him to not be by my side.
“I know how much watching England World Cup games means to everyone at home, and how the experience bonds families together across the generations, like nothing else.
“I know, particularly as a proud old-school Yorkshireman, dad would’ve wanted the show to go on this evening. And so it did.”
Argentina facing disciplinary action for controversial banner after beating England
Danny Jones
In the aftermath of England crashing out of the 2026 World Cup following their defeat in the semi-final, their opponents Argentina look set to face disciplinary action for a controversial flag held up in the wake of beating their old enemies.
For anyone who quickly turned off the telly after the Three Lions‘ 2-1 defeat and might have missed it, the Argentinian national squad waved a makeshift sign which read: “Las Malvinas son Argentinas.”
In English, this translates to “The Falklands are Argentine.”
Referring to the historic conflict between the two countries, which took place more than four decades ago, the statement has been described as inflammatory by some, with No. 10 Downing Street having issued an official response as the team now reportedly risks punishment by FIFA.
Multiple major outlets now believe that a financial penalty at the very least is expected to be passed down for the divisive political message.
As noted by the BBC above, this is by no means the first time this has happened, and perceived ‘tragedy chanting’ among other problematic behaviour from both fan bases has been a recurring issue whenever the two sides have played since.
To put things into context, the Falklands War, which lasted for 74 days, led to the deaths of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen, with three civilians on the islands also losing their lives.
As such, there is still plenty of bad blood between the South American country and Great Britain, with members of the nation’s leading party even weighing in with provocative and rather public posts on social media ahead of the game.
Vice President Victoria Villarruel has been among the most vocal online.
Jogadores argentinos mostram bandeira com a frase “As Malvinas são nossas”.
The reaction from the UK government was direct, too, with business secretary Peter Kyle telling Sky News: “I had left and gone to bed before the banner came onto the pitch, but I saw the images this morning, and of course, it’s entirely inappropriate.
“Politics should stay away from football. That is a very clear principle of the World Cup, but any consequences that come from that are now a decision for FIFA.”
Speaking to the BBC, he went on to add: “We expect FIFA to undertake an investigation into this. I think it was certain to happen because it was such an egregious violation of the rules of not having political activity as part of football.”
It’s also worth noting that Argentina have prior form for this kind of display.
Will Argentina be punished for holding up the Falklands banner?
After winning 2-1 over England, the players took a banner from their supporters, which said in Spanish: "The Falkland Islands are Argentinian."
The predicted outcome looks more than likely, with FIFA having previously fined £20,000 for a similar stunt before a friendly against Slovenia back in 2014.
‘La Albiceleste’ and their fellow compatriots won’t care one bit, of course, as they’re now into another World Cup final and could join Brazil, Italy and France in becoming back-to-back global champions.
Meanwhile, plenty have criticised Thomas Tuchel‘s change in tactics and substitutions as England went more defensive after going a goal up, and the post-mortem from his first run as manager will no doubt continue in the coming days; whether he makes it consecutive tournaments or not, we’ll wait and see.
If you can bring yourself to watch it back, you can watch the highlights along with the extended post-match reaction in full down below.
Georgina Pellant -
10th March 2022 
