Bolton Wanderers have finally renamed their home stadium for the umpteenth time and thanks to a hilarious sponsor selection, the name has absolutely tickled social media.
Having previously been the Reebok, Macron and the UniBol, the Wanderers announced that they were looking for a new principal advertising partnership back in September 2022, revealing that they would be open to approaches from any interested parties.
After literally hundreds of approaches and lots of shopping around, the new main sponsor that would give its namesake to Bolton’s ground was confirmed on Sunday, 19 February and, whether they realised it or not, it’s turned out to be a perfect pun.
Yes, Bolton fans may not like but, you know, Toughsheet…
That’s right, in either a stroke of absolutely genius marketing or unbelievable foolishness, Bolton Wanderers’ ground is now called the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
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Not even remotely joking.
Having gone through significant financial trouble over the past few years and still in a key transitional phase after narrowly escaping dissolution, the club will surely just be relieved to have money coming in again and gradually climbing back up the football pyramid.
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However, as you can expect, the replies have been absolutely wonderful:
The Greater Manchester club has signed a new five-year deal with the building material and hardware brand based out Bolton’s parish town of Westhoughton.
The University of Bolton stadium will be officially renamed to the Toughsheet Community Stadium on 1 July 2023, in line with the start of the 2023/24 season and marks the biggest sponsorship deal in the club’s history.
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Not only has the company been embedded in the local community for more than 55 years, but it is also a family-run business employing more than 85 people in Bolton and the surrounding areas.
Naming rights to the stadium are said to have been contested by more than 400 different brands but given the fact that the Toughseet administration is largely made up of Bolton fans and just so happens to make for a hilarious name means, we couldn’t think of a better fit.
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 -
20th February 2023 
