Bolton Wanderers made it a historic visit to Wembley this weekend, not only managing to win their first trip to the national stadium in over a decade, but also managing the largest attendance anywhere in Europe.
Your regular reminder that Greater Manchester is absolutely massive, in every sense of the word.
Putting four fine finishes past Plymouth Argyle to win the EFL Trophy on Sunday, The Trotters made it an emphatic victory 100 years on from becoming the first team to lift the FA Cup at Wembley in the legendary ‘White Horse Final’, where upwards of 200,000 fans are thought to have attended.
The EFL Trophy was their first piece of silverware in 34 years, so it was only fitting that more than 34,000 Wanderers joined Plymouth fans in descending on Wembley to cheer on their team — the highest anywhere on the continent across this round of fixtures. Mint.
The official @PapaJohnsTrophy Final attendance at Wembley is a remarkable 79,389, making this the highest attended game in all of Europe this weekend.
After sending the travelling fans into raptures barely four minutes into the game with Kyle Dempsey’s opener, and then again just a few minutes later through Dion Charles, Bolton’s supremacy was cemented right from the off.
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Elias Kachunga’s calmy-slotted effort just as early into the second half made it 3-0 and effectively killed off the game there and then. Thankfully, once again, the away support who had journeyed more than 200 miles were treated to a fourth and final goal barely three minutes later. Wonderland.
Manager Ian Evatt said after the game, “I’m extremely proud of the way the players performed on the big stage and I’m extremely proud of this football club”.
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It was a good day to be a Bolton fan, as you can see:
Hinting at Bolton’s precarious situation just a few years ago — when they nearly went bust entirely — Evatt went on to acknowledge: “We’ve had a hell of a journey. We almost lost it. Sharon and the ownership group have saved the football club and rebuilt it from top to bottom.”
“We’ve built a connection with the fan base, with the town, with the community”, he added, declaring the team as the “heartbeat” of the town and that “you could feel that connection with the 34,000+ fans that travelled.”
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He concluded by stating that the club “owed them a good day like this and that “this is hopefully the first of many.” Congratulations to the Bolton boys and well done to the fans for turning up in their droves
You can watch highlights of Bolton Wanderers vs Plymouth Argyle in the Papa John’s Trophy final down below:
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
3rd April 2023 
