“I want to say a heartfelt thanks and to the incredible teams I have worked with and to my family, friends and fans for the love and support they have shown me.”
Early in his 17-year professional career, Khan won silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He was just 17 years old.
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His Olympic success attracted more funding for boxing and paved the way for the likes of Anthony Joshua and Nicola Adams.
Featured image: Twitter, Amir Khan
Sport
Soccer Aid is back for 2025 and returning to Old Trafford
Danny Jones
One of the biggest, best and most wholesome charity events on the UK TV and sporting calendar is coming around once again for 2025 and we can’t wait to have it back home: that’s right, Soccer Aid is back at Old Trafford.
The annual charity match on behalf of UNICEF first kicked off at the Theatre of Dreams almost two full decades ago, with the inaugural fixture set up by Robbie Williams back in 2006.
Fast forward to 19 years later and the fantastic fundraising game has grown massively, attracting huge attendances and practically sold-out crowds whenever it comes to Old Trafford, where this whole wonderful thing first started.
Sharing the first trailer for the game this week, the Soccer Aid 2025 is shaping up to include some serious big personalities from football, sport, entertainment and beyond.
As you can see, not only will the next instalment of Soccer Aid feature familiar faces but there are some new kids on the block ready to mix things up.
First off, not only will Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney be serving as player/manager for the first time – carrying on the baton from the days Robbie running on and off the pitch – but he will also be joined by none other than Tyson Fury in looking after the Three Lions.
This a first for the event so we hope there are no fisticuffs between the gaffer and his assistant. After all, they both have priors when it comes to getting out the boxing gloves.
As for the World XI’s technical area, actor Vicky McClure (This Is England, Line of Duty) will also be on the touchline alongside English footballing veteran Harry Redknapp. Meanwhile, ex-national team and Man City goalie, David James, will be serving as the keeper coach.
You can see the full Soccer Aid 2025 player lineup down below:
Better yet, the exhibition’s beloved halftime show also returns this year and while the full list of the performers is yet to be confirmed, we have our money on a few names in particular.
Who knows, maybe we’ll be ‘loving angles instead’?…
Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2025 gets underway this summer on Sunday, 15 June and besides being for a deeply important cause, one of the best parts about it is that the tickets are always affordable.
With general admission already live, tickets start from £20 for adults and just £10 for kids – plus there are plenty of premium packages and accessible options too.
Featured Images — Press Images (supplied)/The Manc Group
Sport
The female-only five mile trail race that’s been running through Salford for over three decades
Danny Jones
The running boom in Greater Manchester is getting bigger every year but for lots of locals, it’s been a regular pastime for much longer and some events like this women’s trail race in Salford have been going for more than thirty years.
Jogging and road racing are one thing but trail running is a discipline all of its own and with such wonderful landscapes to traverse all over the North West let alone just the 10 boroughs, thousands get stuck into it every year.
With that in mind, 2025 marks the 33rd edition of the annual Ladies Trail Race hosted by Swinton Running Club, which sees hordes of female runners turn up to take part and, most importantly, have fun every single year.
Taking place this spring, the latest event makes use of Salford’s largest conservation area and is expecting yet another solid turnout.
Aiming to provide a welcoming space for all women, regardless of background or experience, the Ladies Trail Race gives Mancs a chance to run through some of the most stunning parts of Salford.
The race is a single-lap course spanning five miles that passes the lake at Old Warke Dam and includes sections of Greater Manchester’s famous Bridgewater Canal as well as the beauty of Worsley Woods.
Alternating between trails, woodland terrain and sections of tarmac path, the ease of traversal does fluctuate but is still considered a very accessible level of difficulty, meaning no one should be put off.
Having run through this particular area of Salford ourselves separate from the event itself, we can confirm it’s a wonderful route and a brilliant way to immerse yourself in nearby nature too.
Better yet, it’s a fantastic female-focused event in a space that can often feel intimidating for some.
As Swinton Runners put it, “It’s no secret that women are underrepresented in races and we want to bring women together to push their boundaries and gain a sense of achievement.”
Credit: SRC
For context, when running-based campaign group SheRaces took a poll of 400 female runners to see if they’d be interested in a women-only race, the response was conclusive: 87% said they would – sadly the figures in
Speaking to The Manc, one of the event’s founding members, Margaret McClelland, told us: “I was there back in 1991 when we started the run.
“It was the brainchild of one of our members, Marie Henderson who found when she joined that the club, which even at the time had a high percentage of women runners compared to most clubs, that she enjoyed the camaraderie, the joy of running together with a supportive ‘family’.
“The club had hosted the ‘Women’s Own 10km’ run for a number of years […] Marie thought that we should get our own race back up again and whilst the men were very much involved it was a race for women, organised by women.
“The aim was to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for women to run, whatever their ability or goals. The first, last and everyone in between is as important as each other and for them to keep going, showing what running can do in terms of feel good, with the bonus of it not costing very much to do.”
It’s events like this and the strong base of female runners here in Greater Manchester that have helped pave the way for contemporaries like the upcoming Women’s Run Series by RunThrough to come to Heaton Park.
You can watch the 25th-anniversary video made for the City of Salford Women’s Run down below, and if you’re interested in taking part in the 2025 Ladies Trail Race, it takes place on Sunday, 4 May with a bright and early 9am start time.
Daisy Jackson -
13th May 2022 
