The 2023 Davis Cup is officially underway in Manchester this week and with the group stages of the Finals taking place at the iconic AO Arena, just around the corner at Cathedral Gardens, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has decided to turn the space into a big fan village.
And it’s all completely free to enjoy.
Cathedral Gardens becomes home to various events throughout the year — Festa Italiana, MIF, sometimes the ice rink during the Christmas Markets etc. — and so with our city hosting the Davis Cup for the first time in nearly 30 years, LTA jumped at the chance to use the space for their fan village.
The ‘World Cup of tennis’ is taking place from 12-17 September and you can make the most of this wonderful free space whilst taking in all the action right here on the home court.
Manchester’s Davis Cup fan village (Credit: LTA)
Turning the historic little corner of the city into a mini-Henman Hill, the organisers of this year’s event have posted up just behind the Corn Exchange and on the grass right outside the National Football Museum.
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As well as being able to enjoy the tournament on the big screen, which will be showing all the games played here in Manchester, you can also soak up the Davis Cup atmosphere with free-to-play mini-courts, a number of interactive booths and other activities, as well as plenty of merch and food, of course.
After popping down for Great Britain’s first game against Australia on Wednesday, 13 September, the place was packed with kids on school trips enjoying the four free courts and the deckchairs were full of people watching the big screen.
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We’ll certainly be soaking up the atmosphere on our lunch breaks for as long as it’s there, with the space open to the public from 11am-7pm every day until the competition is over.
It’s all totally free to enjoy as well (Credit: LTA/The Manc Group)
Our boys got off to a great start this week by beating last year’s runners-up 2-1 on Wednesday, with youngster Jack Draper delivering a hard-fought victory against Thanasi Kokkinakis before British number two Dan Evans dispatched Alex De Minaur with ease.
GB did lose their doubles match 7-6(5), 6-4, with this year’s Wimbledon champ Neal Skupski teaming up with an already depleted Evans, both of which still put the Aussies through their paces and nearly saw the team walk away with a clean sweep.
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We are still yet to face Switzerland (Friday) and France (Sunday) for a place in the November knockouts but after a strong round of opening fixtures and with Andy Murray restored to this year’s squad, they stand a really good chance of going all the way — the Scot seems to think so, anyway.
Speaking to media even before Wednesday’s games, the 36-year-old said, “We have a great group of guys, I love being part of this team, we’ve got great staff as well. Everyone gets on extremely well. I do genuinely believe the team can win the event.” It remains to be seen how much Murray will play.
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 -
14th September 2023 
