Local brand AO, the UK’s most trusted major electricals retailer and sponsor of the Manchester Arena, have announced they are pumping more than £2 million into children’s sports and grassroots teams as part of an exciting new partnership with an NFL team.
With the Bolton-based, nationwide business continuing to support local teams and further invest in youth sport across Greater Manchester and beyond, AO‘s latest venture will see an estimated 472,800 young people benefit from a new initiative with an American football team looking to make an impact in the UK.
Teaming up to sponsor the Jacksonville Jaguars and their growing UK arm, whose support has been growing on this side of the Atlantic since 2013, the two organisations are combining to provide a new scheme to sponsor sports kits amongst grassroots teams across the country.
Better still, more than 87,000 youngsters will benefit from AO and the Jacksonville Jaguars sponsorship through their ground-breaking and hugely exciting new UK sports programme known as ‘JagTag’.
JagTag is a simplified version of tag-based American football, which was invented by Jaguars and is already sweeping across British schools, getting kids active and interested in a new and different sport.
ADVERTISEMENT
Most similar to the likes of tag-rugby, the game is already being taught in over 300 schools as part of their PE curriculum, not to mention having caught on at countless youth centres and sports halls nationwide.
AO has also created a hub on its website, where all types of grassroots youth sports teams can apply to have their kit paid for and sponsored by the retailer.
ADVERTISEMENT
Not a bad deal at all — and it’s by no means the first time AO has teamed up with local clubs and sports centres to ensure kids and young people have the right kit and equipment.
The initiative follows the Centre for Social Justice’s (CSJ) new report, ‘Game Changer: A plan to transform young lives through sport’, which found that providing a “right to sport” to 3.6 million UK secondary school pupils could help “slash youth crime, improve school attendance and boost their academic prospects” overall.
Speaking on the new partnership, AO Founder and CEO John Roberts said: “Talent is evenly distributed across the UK, but opportunity is not. Inside most of these kids is incredible potential yet they get ignored by politicians, so we need to start building them a future they care about and believe in.
ADVERTISEMENT
“By extending our grassroots kit sponsorships and our JagTag partnership with the Jacksonville Jaguars UK, we’ll give almost half a million young people the chance to get involved in sport over the next five years.”
You can register your interest in the AO grassroots programme on behalf of a child, school, sports club or youth centre HERE.
Two Manchester Basketball players have been named in the SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26
Danny Jones
A pair of Manchester Basketball players have been named in the latest SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26.
The most recent UK Super League Basketball (SLB) campaign is set to wrap up this month, with the playoffs taking place down in the capital, but there are other awards to be handed out before then.
It remains to be seen how ‘The Final Four’ phase will play out at The O2 in London on 17 May, but we can definitely take joy in moments like this.
Announced on Thursday, 7 May, Manchester Basketball confirmed that duo Max Jones and Jordan Johnson have joined the rest of the league’s roster of the best players this term.
As detailed on the club website, “Max has averaged 17.4 points in the SLB in 32 games – he’s been a starter for the franchise and was also named in the ENBL All-Star Five in Germany last month.
“Jordan averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 assists in 30 games in the SLB, had a stellar European campaign and hit 30 pts in just over 27 minutes in the SLB Cup Final.”
Commenting on social media, one fan wrote: “Both JJ and PJ have been so great at the PG spot all year. I feel this is a joint award for them both, but they can only fill one spot for the accolade. If we wanna be a serious club to build upon year on year, JJ also needs to be in an MCR jersey next year.
“We absolutely have the pieces to build around. JJ’s nerve is sooooo cool under pressure. You can just tell they wanna loft a meaningful trophy, and it’s gonna happen if we as a club plan and build the way we need to.”
Plenty of supporters have also stressed the importance of making sure that the board tie down the likes of Jones and other big talents this summer; the rest of the Molten All-League Team of the Season for 2025/26 can be found below.
It’s also worth noting that teammate Tim Adetukasi and women’s team star Irene Oboavwoduo have each been named in the SLB’s British Team of the Year in their respective divisions for 2026.
Writing in a club statement reflecting on a great week of recognition for the resurgent club, General Manager Dominique Allen said: “We are really proud to be a club flying the flag for British players.
Both Tim and Irene have made a real impact on and off the court. We’re really happy for both of them that they are getting some well-deserved recognition.”
Well done to all the MCR stars who are helping get the franchise back on its feet following such a major rebrand across the board.
Here’s looking forward to another promising and productive year for Manchester Basketball.
Manchester City win first Women’s Super League title in a decade
Danny Jones
After a decade of hope and hard work, Manchester City have finally won the Women’s Super League once again in a huge moment for the local club.
Lifting not just their first division title in 10 years, but only their second WSL trophy since the modern female football era began in 2010, it felt like only a matter of time to many supporters.
Ending a six-year Chelsea supremacy, this is also manager Andrée Jeglertz’s first at the helm of Man City’s women’s team, who arrived at the club with a strong silverware record at the start of this season.
These were the scenes at home base as one key result sealed their status as champions:
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 6, 2026
City Women secured the WSL title following third-placed Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brighton on Wednesday evening.
They even managed to do so with a game to spare and a six-point gap over the west London club, which has won so much over the past few years.
Speaking in an interview with club media after confirmation of the win, captain and Euro 2025-winning Lionesses defender, Alex Greenwood, said: “[It feels] absolutely incredible. “A moment – we as a team, me personally – us as a club has waited so long for”.
“An incredible moment, it’s an incredible feeling. I’m so glad we got to spend this moment together as a group. Just an absolutely incredible feeling.”
With fans watching both at home, along with the first team themselves, the celebrations have already begun as the team shared a look back at how they got here.
You can see the recap posted on social media in full below.
Commenting on his latest accolade, the Swedish head coach added in a full club statement: “There’s never been doubt about the talent in the group, but there is something else about talking about being winners and champions. We started that early, and we believed in that. That’s led us through this year.
“It hasn’t been easy; it’s been hard work every day, but we had a strong belief that we could be sitting here in May and be champions. That is the first thing, and we definitely deserve it.”
Congratulations to the Cityzens on a well-deserved and long-awaited WSL title; could this be the start of another sporting dynasty of dominance over in East Manchester? Only time will tell…
In other news around the Etihad Campus, the women’s, EDS and academy team stadium is also set to host the final of the FA Youth Cup later this month.
Danny Jones -
12th October 2023 
