With less than a week to go before the FIFA 2022 World Cup officially kicks-off, the England squad’s team photo has been released.
As the England team prepares to travel out to Qatar today, and with world football’s biggest tournament set to begin this Sunday, the official squad photo – which is taken and released before every international football tournament – has been shared with fans on social media.
Once again, the photo of the 26 players and manager Gareth Southgate showed them all decked-out in clothing from the team’s official tailor, M&S.
Or, as one fan chose to more-accurately describe it on Twitter, in their “supermarket garms”.
Unlike in previous years though, this year’s team photo has definitely gone with a more candid approach.
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The official England team photo for EURO 2022 shared last year showed the team dressed head-to-toe in formal suits and ties and resembled more of a school year group photo, whereas this year, you could say it looks more like a group of mates taking a photo before a night out – with most of the players smiling or laughing, and some even looking like they could be mid sentence.
A smiling Southgate can be seen sat in the middle of the group of players, with cheerful captain Harry Kane and veteran midfielder Jordan Henderson on either side.
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A series of equally-candid behind the scenes images from the photoshoot have also been shared.
Behind the scenes of the England squad’s World Cup 2022 official team photo shoot / Credit: England (via Twitter)
Fans have been reacting on social media to the shared photos, and seems like not everyone is impressed with the choice of tailor – yet again.
“Italy dripped out in Armani blazers, meanwhile England dressed in supermarket garms, how do we expect to be taken seriously?” one fan said on Twitter.
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Another even went as far as to saying their outfits “requires a formal apology”.
What are they wearing? This requires a formal apology
Plenty of other fans also pointed out that Leicester City midfielder James Maddison has awkwardly perched himself on the end of the group, and looks like the famous photo of Ashley Cole when he was pictured alongside his new Roma teammates.
Along with the official team pictures, the squad numbers for the tournament have also been revealed – with Southgate having given the numbers one to 12 to the same players who wore them at EURO 2020,
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.
Emily Sergeant -
15th November 2022 
