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The 2026 World Breaking Finals of the UK B-Boy Championships are coming to Manchester

Another big sporting and entertainment event coming to 0161.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 15th March 2026

It’s official: the UK B-Boy Championships are returning to Manchester this year for the 2026 World Breaking Finals, in what is a special anniversary for the annual tournament.

Celebrating three decades since the inaugural event this summer, the UK B-Boy Champs will once again remind fans why they still remain among the gold standard for competitive breakdancing.

With elite breakers and dance battlers from more than 20 different countries in attendance – and plenty of contestants from each, at that – it’s going to be a real global showcase of talent.

Returning to Manchester once again, we can’t wait to see breakdancing take over the Factory International concourse and wider campus.

Anyone in the world will know that the city also hosted another big European equivalent back in 2022 on behalf of the 2022 World DanceSport Federation, but the UK B-Boy Championships have a passionate following of their own.

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This also happens to be the 30th anniversary of the event, so it’s a momentous occasion on many levels.

With live music from not only classic artists and legendary MCs, but artists for the future too, there’ll be plenty of tunes and impressive moves from start to finish.

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Coming to Aviva Studios this summer, they’ve billed it quite short and sweet: “The sickest breakers on the planet will battle in a once-in-a-generation celebration of Hip-Hop culture.”

They’re promising “High-stakes rivalries. Gravity-defying moves”, and “Unforgettable performances”, adding, “This isn’t just another battle – this is the Champs legacy in motion.”

Credit: Supplied

The World Breaking Finals get underway in Manchester on 16 August at Aviva Studios, and it’s all set up to be arguably the biggest yet.

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General admission went on sale this past Friday, 13 March, with adult tickets starting from only £20 and kids from just a tenner.

You can grab yours HERE.

As we mentioned before, this isn’t the only big sporting date coming to Manchester this year, with the likes of the British basketball’s annual Cup Finals concluding at AO Arena and another big Super League set to for a grandstand finish at our other big indoor entertainment venue…

Co-op Live confirmed as the host venue for the 2026 Netball Super League Grand Final

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Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via Get the Affects Communications)

Sport

The Premier League and EFL should follow La Liga’s lead and bring Retro Matchdays to the UK

Danny Jones Danny Jones Premier League and EFL should do retro matchday kit game weekends

Following the news that La Liga is set to debut a new ‘Retro Matchday’ round, we can’t help but ask the question: why didn’t the Premier League and EFL think of this first?

Well, technically, neither did the Spaniards, but you take our point.

Anyone who follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or even the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) equivalent here in the UK and mainland Europe, will know that the concept is nothing new – but by and large, it seems to be for the beautiful game.

In case you missed it, in an effort to further capitalise on the increasing trend of vintage and classic football kit fashion/the wider nostalgia culture that only seems to be growing every year, Spain’s top two tiers will soon host their inaugural Retro Matchday gameweek next month, and we want a piece of it.

Set to be hosted from Friday, 10 April, over the usual weekend of football in their premier and second division, and running until the final lot of fixtures on Monday, 13 April (no, thankfully not an April Fool’s), supporters will get to see players step out onto the pitch in some of the country’s most iconic kits.

Depending on who you ask, some would argue that Spain has some of the nicest footy shirts all time, whether that be the national side or clubs themselves.

To be honest, we definitely have a soft spot for a proper European throwback – we’re thinking Borussia Dortmund’s 1995/96 home kit, the Napoli kits of the 80s, that amazing Toyota-sponsored Fila Fiorentina kit at the turn of the millennium – and even some of the best 2000s ones now look so old-school.

In fact, we actually had a taster of these kinds of special matches in the past, including here in 0161 for the likes of the Manchester Derby.

Our city’s very own aficionados, Classic Football Shirts, have actually been calling for this to become a regular event for years now; they were ahead of the game even then.

When you also take into account that, besides collectors already creating a whole new craze in filling their cupboards with classic kits, the likes of Nike, Adidas and more now regularly turning to old designs like the ‘Futura’, Total 90′ and various ‘adi Originals’ revivals of late, it’s more the rage than ever.

Birmingham’s recent ‘penguin’ remake, Port Vale’s traditional 150th anniversary one, based on their 1953-54 season jersey, not to mention countless other lifestyle fashion collections inspired by historic releases, you can’t move for the stuff – so why not get them wearing it on the grass?

As mentioned, the likes of local ice hockey outfit Manchester Storm have been taking a leaf out of the NHL’s book for ages now, with the annual ‘Retro Nights’ proving to be some of the most popular dates on the calendar, even selling off original shirts in the stadium itself before, during and after the match.

We genuinely can’t think of a single football lover following a team at any level in the English football pyramid that wouldn’t LOVE this. In fact, plenty of them already go to the ground wearing their dad’s second-hand away strip, which has turned out to be a modern cult favourite among the next generation.

These are the kinds of ideas we can see fans actually getting behind; you can find out more HERE. Would you like to see a retro Premier League and/or EFL match day featuring your favourite kits from down the years?

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

Sport

Liam Broady is on the comeback – here’s why you need to watch out for him at Wimbledon

The Manc The Manc Liam Broady comeback form on ATP Tour ahead of Wimbledon 2026

Local tennis player Liam Broady is quietly rising back up the ranks on the ITF Tour, and here’s why we think you should watch out for him come Wimbledon 2026 this summer.

He is physical proof that the ATP Tour ranking means so much to a player’s career.

The Stockport-born tennis player has suffered many injury setbacks since turning pro in 2014. With a host of ankle and back injuries plaguing his playing career, he has had to turn to the ITF (International Tennis Federation) Tour to climb the rankings once again.

He is currently placed at 283* on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour after reaching two semi-finals in the space of a month.

With wins on two of Portugal’s hard courts in Faro and Santo António, the 32-year-old has climbed from rank 303 at the start of the year to under the threshold in less than three months.

His hard work on outdoor courts is paying off as his seeding is slowly improving, and his opponents are becoming less of a challenge. 

For the unititated, the ATP ranking is decided by a points system that determines your playing level, and therefore who you can possibly draw, with lower seeds getting tougher games as they need more points, and vice versa.

These point tallies factor into every win, loss, serve, and shot as it propels you up or down the table. 

With an injury over Christmas, the Stopfordian Team GB player came back stronger for the start of the annual tournament calendar and now looks to be in fighting form on the ITF Tour.

He’s definitely had to tackle some obstacles over the years, both on and off the court…

Competing solely on outdoor hard courts to gain his fitness levels back is necessary, but the grass courts – his speciality – will come around with time and consistent form, with Wimbledon being his home tournament and his highlight of the competitive calendar.

His career best ranking was 93, after becoming the first British wildcard entry to beat an ATP top five player in 2023 when defeating Casper Rudd on Wimbledon’s centre court.

His win against the Norwegian in round two sent him into the top 100 rankings for the first time, and into the shining spotlight alongside British tennis stars.

The adverse effects of time away from the tour are clear to see with Broady’s peaks and dips in the table below; this means taking a hit to player motivation, game-to-game momentum and teamworking within doubles pairs.

liam broady highest career ranking tennis
Liam Broady’s career rankings progression chart. (Credit: ATP Tour)

It is a likely situation for players to neglect their doubles career without the added stress of injury, so if they are to arise, it does not just impact individual physicality levels but also communication between doubles pairs. 

A fellow British player with similar injury problems is Emma Raducanu, who rose to fame with a shocking US Open grand slam win as a qualifier. Since her win, she has had multiple surgeries, which saw her plummet down WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) standings due to time spent off court. 

The issues that come with injury upsets can make a career really difficult to reclaim, even at a young age; tour rankings can be brutal on game time and match opponents, such as Broady’s Wimbledon draw against Holland’s Van De Zandschulp and Raducanu’s recent draw against American no.3 Anisimova.

We hope to see Team GB’s athletes fit and ready to fight on tour, and we have a strong feeling we’ll see native talent Broady back in the spotlight where he belongs. 

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Featured Images — Hameltion/Diliff (via Wikimedia Commons)/si.robi (via Flickr)

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