The 2022 Qatar World Cup is fast approaching and while everyone is figuring out where they’re going to watch, millions of Brits are said to be planning sickies already.
As games are running from anywhere between 10am and 7pm, Monday-Friday, England and Wales fans are already thinking of ways to squeeze the games into the working week.
Not only does the first game of Qatar 2022 start at 4pm on 20 November but England’s first match against Iran kicks off at 1pm the following day — on a Monday no less! As for the Welsh, they’re earliest fixtures is their second game which starts at 10am. Oof.
With that in mind, more than 30% of British workers have admitted they will call in sick so they can watch their respective teams play, as per a study by ‘Road to Victory‘: Europe’s largest fan zone.
The massive space set up by interactive experience and events provider AIX Live is showing every England game in Manchester’s Depot Mayfield this World Cup, but they’ve also been looking into what the fans are planning to do get watch the games during working hours.
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According to RtV‘s research, the top three excuses fans are expected to give to their employers in order to miss a day of work are vomiting and diarrhoea (14%), followed by migraines (4.5%) and finally Covid (3.6%). Hey, we’ve all pulled a sickie for much less important reasons.
As for those still enjoying work-from-home days, over two-thirds (61.4%) say they plan to skip going into the office to watch the footy whilst ‘working’ from the comfort of their own gaff.
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Moreover, despite everyone obviously planning to pull a sickie and skive off work to watch the Three Lions and The Dragons, almost half of workers in the UK (46%) said they would take an ‘honest’ half-day holiday if their employers offered one. These numbers are extrapolated form a surey of over 2,000 fans.
Credit: England (via Twitter)Credit: FA Wales
However, that isn’t enough for Road to Victory, as they have started a petition for businesses around the nation to issue half-day for all England fans wanting to watch the first game. Sounds fair to us.
Speaking directly to employers, their campaign aims to discourage faking calling in sick and unnecessary WFH days by promoting the match as a team-building exercise where employees can hopefully celebrate the victory together.
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We recently went to Depot Mayfield to get a sneak peek at Road to Victory, as it happens. It was seriously impressive. Certainly worth pulling a sickie for!
AIX Live’s David Norris said: “The upcoming world cup is not just about supporting England, it’s an opportunity for friends, family and employees to come together and celebrate victory.
“The Lionesses won gold this year – and now it’s time for the boys to bring home the trophy.
“With the world cup taking place in Qatar, more fans than ever will be supporting from home in the UK and it’s the responsibility of businesses to ensure that employees are able to celebrate.
“Sign the petition – and let’s make a milestone change.”
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 -
8th November 2022 
