Sport

Cole Palmer picks up FSA Men’s Player of the Year for 2024

COLD Palmer indeed.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 3rd December 2024

Chelsea star Cole Palmer has officially won the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) Player of the Year Award for 2024 following what can only be called an incredible 12 months.

It’s been an unbelievable 12 months for the former Manchester City academy product and now England international, who is still only 22, having already notched eight goals and six assists in 15 games for his club this season.

The Wythenshawe-born winger, attacking midfielder and all-round dynamo has been virtually unplayable the entire calendar year, to be honest, becoming the fastest Chelsea player in history to reach 30 goals with his latest contribution this past weekend.

Picking up the award at this year’s ceremony held in London on Monday night, Cole Palmer becomes the first Chelsea player to ever win FSA Player of the Year, having done so with just over one full senior season under his belt.

Registering 26 goal contributions in 2024 so far, he’s been one of the most prolific players not only in England but in European football full stop, and he’s no way near done yet.

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With a busy Christmas period ahead thanks to the congested festive fixture list, you can expect him to add to that tally soon enough, having just scored a goal-of-the-season contender in the West London side’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.

This latest award also comes just a few months on from notching Young Player of the Season for 2023/24 in his debut season for Chelsea and his first full Premier League campaign. Generational stuff.

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Leading the league in chances created from open play (30) and so often being the match-winner in a team so overly saturated with talent – approximately £1.15 billion on a total of 39 players across the last five transfer windows – he’s worth his weight in gold.

Just a lad from Manchester who’s very good at kicking a ball.

With well over half the season still to go and Enzo Maresca’s side finally looking like a team worthy of the money spent and able to compete at the top of the table, the question is how much more quality is there to come from him?

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Currently third in the assists table (6) and not too far from the front of the Golden Boot race (8), we wouldn’t be surprised if you see the local lad picking up even more personal accolades come May.

Well done, Cole – we’ll be pulling out the Palmer celebration the first chance we get. Mainly because it’s December and we’re freezing…

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Featured Images — Premier League (screenshot via YouTube)

Sport

Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Andy Burnham outside Number 10 Downing Street

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’.

Man City release statement after being found guilty of all charges related to Premier League’s financial rules

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.

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“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 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.

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“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.

Featured Image – Rawpixel

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