Just a few short weeks ago, we all witnessed a monumental sporting moment – football finally came home.
And it was the women’s game that did it, only a year since the England men’s team came so close to lifting the Euros trophy themselves.
The nation is bursting with pride for the phenomenal achievements of every player on England women’s team, affectionately known as The Lionesses, but we just had to give a little shout out to one of our local girls.
Ella Toone. The Wigan-born star has been called wonder kid and a golden girl, but she prefers to be ‘just Ella’.
Credit: Instagram, Ella Toone
The 22-year-old has built the bulk of her sporting career here in Greater Manchester.
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Born in Tyldesley, she spent many years as a junior at Manchester United – but the team, until very recently, didn’t have a senior women’s team for her to move up to.
So it was off to Blackburn she went, then briefly she played for Manchester City, before finally joining Man Utd in 2018 for their inaugural season.
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In an interview with BBC Sport, Ella – a life-long United (and Cristiano Ronaldo) fan – said: “It’s the best feeling in the world. Growing up a Manchester United fan, and then being able to play week in week out for the club that you love and support is really special.
“Growing up it was tough – I was in the United academy for seven/eight years, and there was nothing to look up to. There was no women’s team to try and get in to.”
But once news of a Manchester United women’s squad landed, Ella said: “It was home. I knew that my ambitions matched theirs. I’ve been happy ever since.”
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Fast forward to 2022, and she has become a household name thanks to her stunning performance with the England Women’s team at the Euros.
Ella’s impeccable chip into the net had all of Wembley on its feet during the final, and it was one of two goals that saw England storm to victory.
Along with her teammates, she is now riding the wave of the team’s success to try and make changes that will last an eternity.
The Lionesses recently penned an open letter to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, demanding that young girls are given the opportunity to get into the sport and that women’s football is given proper investment from school age onwards.
They told the prospective PMs that only 63% of girls can play football in PE at school, saying ‘a generation of school girls deserve more.’
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The letter stated: “Throughout the Euros, we as a team spoke about our legacy and goal to inspire a nation. Many will think that this has already been achieved, but we see this as only the beginning.
“We are looking to the future. We want to create real change in this country and we are asking you, if you were to become Prime Minister on 5 September, to help an achieve that change.”
The highly-praised letter went on to ask the Government to ensure all girls have access to a minimum of two hours a week of P.E.
The co-signed letter said: “They deserve to play football at lunchtime, they deserve to play football in PE lessons and they deserve to believe they can one day play for England. We want their dreams to also come true.
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“This is an opportunity to make a huge difference. A change that will impact millions of young girls’ lives. We – the 23 members of the England Senior Women’s EURO squad – ask you to make it a priority to invest into girls’ football in schools, so that every girl has the choice.”
And as Ella Toone herself once said – “I was once just a little girl with a lot of dreams, and I’ve managed to achieve them.”
About Manc of the Month
We all know that Manchester is home to some special people, some born here and others drawn here, and after a bumpy two years that effectively amounted to one big lockdown, it’s these special people that have inspired and led us through the tough times – so we decided to start a series that shines a light on those who should be celebrated.
Following on from our ‘The Mancs of the Year’ feature towards the end of 2020, Manc of the Month officially kicked off in July 2021, with Marcus Rashford MBE, Manchester’s mural king Akse P-19, the local chef feeding the region’s vulnerable families Mary-Ellen McTague, and Manchester’s groundbreaking new Council leader Bev Craig among previous honourees.
Featured image: England Women’s
Sport
Manchester City star Rodri warns that players are ‘close’ to going on strike over too many games
Danny Jones
Manchester City star Rodri has come out to warn that professional footballers could soon go on strike over the number of games they are now playing each year.
The Blues’ Treble and Euro 2024-winning midfielder is one of Pep Guardiola’s most heavily relied-upon squad members and has been absent for the start of the new Premier League campaign thus far, and has once again made his feelings known on the issue of fixture congestion.
Now in what is widely accepted to be the ‘prime years’ of his career, Rodri is only just back in training following an injury in the final between Spain and England back in July; his return to the press conference table saw his addressing the possibility of a potential player strike.
Speaking ahead of Man City’s opening game of this year’s Champions League competition, the 28-year-old said that the number of games in each season is simply becoming “too much”.
"You can play 40-50 games at a top level but not 60-70" 🗣️
Rodri says the increased workload for players in the current schedule is "too much" ⚽ pic.twitter.com/rie3CWKDnL
When asked by a reporter if he believes it will get to a point where players might consider going on strike, he said: “I think we are close to that. I think it’s the general opinion of the players and if it keeps [going] this way, there will be a moment where we have no other option.”
Although Rodri couldn’t give an exact number that he thinks is suitable, he estimated that “40-50” is the top limit for players to keep performing at the highest level, insisting that anything more and you inevitably drop because “it’s impossible to sustain the physical levels.”
The Spanish international, who joined City back in 2019 and has gone on to be part of the greatest period in the now record-breaking side’s history, went on to add: “We have to take care of ourselves. Someone has to take care of us because we are the main characters in this sport, this business, whatever you want to call it.”
He also argued that not only is it a worry for players’ fitness and well-being – with the growing number of games being directly correlated to people becoming more injury-prone – but also for the overall entertainment and “the quality of the show.”
Rodri is by no means the only one either; just earlier this past February, the PFA’s (Professional Footballers’ Association) chief executive Maheta Molango said: “For us, we’ve reached a stage where it is not just about the health of the player, it is about us killing the product.” The calls are growing louder.
🚨🔴 Alisson on new Champions League format: “For the supporters, amazing. But sometimes nobody asks the players what they think about adding more games…”.
Naturally, on the other hand, many fans argue that these are professional athletes on hundreds of thousands of pounds a week and, in the case of teams such as Man City, it’s the club’s responsibility to rotate the squad and use youth players so as to manage fatigue and adequate rest.
Rodri’s right: ‘the beautiful game’ is still a business and whether or not the higher-ups see it within their best interests to stem the increasing flow of games for the sake of player welfare and/or the quality of the most televised sport in the world, the narrative isn’t going anywhere and strikes now sound more plausible than ever.
Do you agree — are professional footballers now expected to play too many games?
You can watch an extended look at his press conference and comments on fixture congestion here:
Rodri on a potential players’ strike over the bloated fixture lists.
Manchester breaks the all-time Davis Cup attendance record despite GB disappointment
Danny Jones
The 2024 Davis Cup wasn’t to be for Great Britain but Manchester and fans all over the country can still be proud that we did our bit as it has been confirmed that we set an all-time attendance record.
GB crashed out of this year’s tournament on Sunday following Dan Evans’s defeat against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, which sealed a 2-1 loss against the North American visitors and saw the home team fail to progress to the quarter-finals for the second time in three years.
Team captain Leon Smith’s side got off to a winning start in their hard-fought opener against Finland, but after the fatigued were knocked back by Argentina in the second match, it was always going to be a tough task.
Nevertheless, the crowds continued to improve throughout the week after a rallying cry from Smith and it culminated in 15,700 tickets sold for Sunday alone, meaning that a Manchester crowd bigger than Wimbledon’s Centre Court filed into the AO Arena to watch the action.
Record Breaking! 🏆🎾 A new @DavisCup record in Great Britain 🙌 15,700 attendees at the @AOArena 🥳 Thank you everyone for an incredible week of tennis! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/rfLKP6DU0T
What a way to answer the call when the national team needs you – can always count on the Mancs.
Better still, it wasn’t just the closing fixture that surpassed previous feats of attendance: a total of 37,000 sporting spectators turned up to the AO Arena over the course of the six days of play, cementing not only a new record for the arena but in the entire history of the Davis Cup.
With the legendary arena still fairly fresh from its £50m redevelopment, including new state-of-the-art facilities and additions like The Mezz, everyone in attendance was able to soak up the electrifying atmosphere.
Hosting the competition once again after the rousing success of the World Cup of Tennis’ return to Manchester for the first time in 30 years in September 2023, it didn’t disappoint and provided the perfect backdrop for creating global sporting history.
Both the athletes and the supporters inside the arena were on top form from start to finish, with an atmosphere to be very proud of.
By the final day, the atmosphere was incredible. (Credit: Supplied)
Commenting on their new personal record and impressive feat on behalf of the entire Davis Cup and LTA (Lawn Tennis Association), the AO commented: “This underscores the arena’s growing reputation as a leading, must-attend and must-play destination for major sporting events and entertainment.
“The milestone also highlights Manchester’s thriving cultural footprint on a truly global scale, and the city’s continued commitment to hosting high-calibre events with enormous success”, they continued.
“The Davis Cup is a tournament renowned for drawing significant global attention and attracting the biggest names in the sport. AO Arena’s record-breaking attendance not only enhances Manchester’s profile on the international sporting stage but is also set to attract further prestigious events to the city.”
Having already proved ourselves as a tennis-loving crowd, we sincerely hope we see the Davis Cup come back to Manchester for yet another visit very soon and GB can rest assured that we’ll be cheering them on every step of the way – we know they’ll come back stronger next time.
🌟DAVIS CUP MANCHESTER…THAT’S A WRAP!🌟
It wasn’t to be for Team GB this year, but another amazing tennis showcase in our city – with a record crowd attendance. Best of luck to all finalists.
Daisy Jackson -
12th August 2022 
