Sport
Erik ten Hag delights Man United fans by picking up green and gold ‘Glazers Out’ scarf after Aston Villa game
Tell us you get it without telling us you get it.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag made a lot of supporters very happy on Sunday after he grabbed a Glazers Out scarf on the way out of Old Trafford following their win over Aston Villa.
United‘s 1-0 win victory over Villa was a tense affair throughout, not least because it was largely the backdrop to a day about sending a message as thousands of fans paraded through Manchester to protest the Glazer ownership.
Although it had been a while since the last raft of large-scale ‘Glazers Out‘ protests, the deadline for the third and possibly final round of bidding to take over the club officially passed on Friday, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim both said to have entered increased offers.
With that being said — not to mention crucial points dropped on Thursday and having crashed out of the Europa League earlier this month — United fans are desperate for the long drawn out process to come to an end finally, and they were delighted to see a bit of acknowledgement from their manager too.
As you can see, the full-time whistle had already been blown when a nearby fan threw him the iconic green and gold scarf — synonymous with the club in its previous iteration as Newton Heath and the Glazers Out movement ever since 2005 — and ten Hag picked up and waved it back at the crowd.
While some have suggested that he was gesturing to receive it, ten Hag has been pretty much silent when it comes to United’s potential sale bar and although picking up a fan’s scarf from the pitch isn’t outright giving the seal of approval, Reds are naturally running with it and saying “he gets it”.
We particularly enjoyed the person who simply tweeted “Baldy knows”, but we also wonder whether it’s something that will be raised as an issue in the coming days, with the manager essentially playing into the narrative that the Glazers are unfit to run the club and should finally sell up.
That was certainly the consensus outside Old Trafford and indeed throughout the city on the day:
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It might be United fans getting carried away and interpreting things, but the Dutchman has said he believes a change of ownership and new investment “would be a good thing” in the past.
Regardless, the 53-year-old has won himself even more faith from the Stretford End by simply bending down to pick up a bit of fabric.
The only question that’s left is when will the Americans finally accept one of the multiple bids on the table, or will they still somehow find a way to hang on and keep cashing in?
Either way, the message is the same as it’s always been: ‘Green and gold until the club is sold’.
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Featured Image — MufcWonItAll/Man United (via Twitter)/The Manc Group
Sport
Both Manchester United and Manchester City named as teams with the least amount of local fans
Emily Sergeant
Both Manchester United and Manchester City have been identified as being teams with the least amount of local fans, according to a new survey.
We all know that supporting a local team can be seen as a mark of credibility among a certain kind of football fan, while on the flip side of that, not following a local team is often associated with being a ‘glory hunter’. But which Premier League clubs have the highest – and lowest – proportion of supporters living close to home?
Well, YouGov decided to use its profiles data to analyse the fanbases of all 20 Premier League clubs for the 2026-27 season to get the answer to this once and for all.
And it’s fair to say that it’s not looking the best for the Manchester teams.
The study found that, overall, Brighton & Hove Albion is the Premier League’s most local team – with 56% of fans based in the South East.
Sunderland (50%) and Nottingham Forest (49%) supporters are the next-most likely to live in the same region as their teams, followed by Aston Villa, Brentford, Ipswich, Leeds, Fulham, Hull, and Crystal Palace fans rounding out the top 10.
At the other end of the table, Manchester United has the second-lowest proportion of local supporters, with only a quarter based in the North West (23%), with one in six (17%) actually living in London instead.
And then as for Manchester City – who are widely considered to be the most successful team of the modern era – it has ranked fourth-bottom for local fans, as a quarter of the club’s supporters are based in the North West, with a fifth based in London (19%).
But although both United and City have found themselves towards the bottom end of the ranking, they are not the worst offenders.
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That title, unfortunately, does belong to another North West team though – Liverpool.
Liverpool is the club with the lowest proportion of ‘local’ supporters, as just a fifth are based in the North West (21%) with the next highest concentration of fans can being found in London.
Featured Image – Johnny Gios (via Unsplash)
Sport
Manchester Storm game postponed just one week after AO Arena return due to ‘technical issue with the ice’
Daisy Jackson
Manchester Storm’s second game back at the AO Arena had to be postponed over the weekend due to a ‘technical issue with the ice’.
The ice hockey team made a record-breaking return to the venue earlier this month, attracting some 11,000 fans to watch their match against Sheffield Steelers.
But just one week later, as Manchester Storm prepared to face off against The Nottingham Panthers, the game had to be postponed.
Fans were already inside the legendary venue when a ‘technical issue with the ice’ became apparent and the game was called off.
Manchester Storm and the AO Arena said they ‘sincerely apologise’ to supporters and ticket holders for the disruption.
The game has now been rescheduled to Wednesday 14 October, with tickets valid for the new fixture.
The full statement read: “Unfortunately today’s Manchester Storm game vs The Nottingham Panthers has been suspended due to a technical issue with the ice.
“We sincerely apologise to supporters and ticket holders for the disruption and would like to thank everyone in attendance for their patience.
“We advise attendees to retain their tickets which will remain valid for the rescheduled fixture.
“Those with single-game tickets for this game and seeking a refund are advised to contact their point of purchase.
“The rescheduled game will take place on Wednesday 14th October 2026.
“Manchester Storm and AO Arena would like to thank attendees for their understanding.”
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Featured image: Supplied
Danny Jones -
30th April 2023 
