The city centre will be painted sky blue this evening as Manchester City are set to celebrate their treble title-winning season.
In case you somehow missed it, Manchester City made history this past weekend.
On what was a humid summer’s night in Istanbul on Saturday, Pep Guardiola‘s men fought hard in the Champions League final to clinch a 1-0 win over Italian side Inter Milan, and although it ended up being a much harder challenge than many seemed to be expecting, a decisive goal in the 68th minute by midfielder Rodri secured the Citizens the biggest title in European football.
Not only was it a historic moment for the club and fans, as the Champions League was the only major title missing from their ever-growing trophy cabinet, but it was also a historic moment in general, as City became only the second English side to claim this coveted domestic treble.
2022/23 will always be remembered as the season the Sky Blues took home the Premier League title, the FA Cup, and the Champions League.
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And tonight, the lads are set to show all three trophies off to their tens of thousands of fans.
As always when teams claim historic victories like this, a whole host of events are planned for fans to suitably celebrate – with an open-top bus parade right through the heart of Manchester hat ends with the players, manager, and staff taking to the stage to greet the crowds all set to take over the city centre this evening.
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From parade routes, to event times, road closures, and more, here’s everything you need to know about Manchester City’s treble-winning title parade.
Manchester City lifting the Premier League and FA Cup trophies / Credit: Manchester City (via Facebook)
Open-top bus parade route
The open-top bus tour through Manchester city centre is always the headline-grabbing highlight of any title parade, with tens of thousands of fans all coming together to line the streets and celebrate as their heroes show off their shiny trophies.
Manchester City has published a handy map of the open-top bus parade route this year.
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Manchester City open-top bus parade route 2023 / Credit: Manchester City
Pep Guardiola and the squad will depart from Tonman Street at around 6:30pm and travel down Deansgate, before turning right on to St Mary’s Gate, continuing past Marks and Spencer, and then turning right on to Cross Street.
At the junction of King Street, the bus will then turn left towards Brown Street and work its way along Brown Street, Booth Street, and Nicholas Street until it reaches George Street.
It will travel down George Street until it reaches Princess Street.
Road closures
We all know by know that title parades do tend to cause a bit of disruption across the city centre, with many major thoroughfares being shut off – and this year is no different, as Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has now confirmed which roads will be closed as part of the parade route and stage show.
Oxford Street – Mount Street to Chepstow /Portland St
Hall Street – Bale Street to Oxford Street
12pm (midday) to 12am (midnight) on Monday 12 June
Portland Street – Oxford Street to Princess Street
Oxford Street – Portland to Whitworth
Chepstow – Great Bridgewater to Oxford Road
12pm (midday) to 9pm on Monday 12 June
Deansgate – Liverpool Road to Blackfriars Street
2pm to 9pm on Monday 12 June
St Mary Gate – Deansgate to Market Street
Market Street – St Mary’s Gate to Cross Street
Cross Street – Market Street to Albert Square
3pm to 10pm on Monday 12 June
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King Street – Cross Street to Brown Street
Brown Street – King Street to Booth Street
Booth Street – Brown Street to Mosley Street
Nicholas Street – Mosley Street to Faulkner Street
George Street – Charlotte Street to Princess Street
Princess Street – Cooper Street to George Street
Back George Street – Princess Street to Dickinson Street
Dickenson Street – back George Street to George Street
Manchester City lifting the Champions League trophy / Credit: Manchester City
Stage show and entertainment
As well as the open-top bus parade, a live stage show will also take place on Oxford Street, with onstage entertainment starting at 5:30pm.
The parade will be hosted by Manchester City’s City Square presenters Danny Jackson and Natalie Pike, who’ll also be joined by former players and special guests, and there’ll also be live music from bands and DJs, as well as three DJ booths dotted across the parade route.
The entrance to the parade stage viewing area is accessible via Oxford Street and Portland Street from 5pm, and all fans will be searched before entering.
As this is a non-ticketed event, Manchester City is advising fans arrive early to get the best possible viewing experience, but don’t worry if you can’t secure the best view in the house, as there’ll also be screens on Oxford Street, Chepstow Street, and Portland Street showing all the action on stage.
The players are expected to arrive on stage at around 7:30pm.
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The team and manager Pep Guardiola with the Champions League trophy / Credit: Manchester City
What is the Council saying?
As they have done in previous years, Manchester City Council has been working together with Manchester City and external partners to ensure the parade runs as smoothly as possible so that fans can properly enjoy the celebrations.
“Winning the treble, crowned with an historic first Champion’s League triumph, is an incredible achievement,” Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council said ahead of the event.
“We extend our congratulations on behalf of the city to the club and its fans.
“We’re sure the parade will be a joyous and unforgettable occasion as fans gather in the city centre to celebrate with the team a success which will resonate around the world and showcases once again Manchester’s huge sporting legacy.”
Find out more on the Manchester City website here.
Featured Image – Shaun Botterill (Getty via Manchester City)
Sport
The 2026 World Breaking Finals of the UK B-Boy Championships are coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s official: the UK B-Boy Championships are returning to Manchester this year for the 2026 World Breaking Finals, in what is a special anniversary for the annual tournament.
Celebrating three decades since the inaugural event this summer, the UK B-Boy Champs will once again remind fans why they still remain among the gold standard for competitive breakdancing.
With elite breakers and dance battlers from more than 20 different countries in attendance – and plenty of contestants from each, at that – it’s going to be a real global showcase of talent.
Returning to Manchester once again, we can’t wait to see breakdancing take over the Factory International concourse and wider campus.
Anyone in the world will know that the city also hosted another big European equivalent back in 2022 on behalf of the 2022 World DanceSport Federation, but the UK B-Boy Championships have a passionate following of their own.
This also happens to be the 30th anniversary of the event, so it’s a momentous occasion on many levels.
With live music from not only classic artists and legendary MCs, but artists for the future too, there’ll be plenty of tunes and impressive moves from start to finish.
Coming to Aviva Studios this summer, they’ve billed it quite short and sweet: “The sickest breakers on the planet will battle in a once-in-a-generation celebration of Hip-Hop culture.”
They’re promising “High-stakes rivalries. Gravity-defying moves”, and “Unforgettable performances”, adding, “This isn’t just another battle – this is the Champs legacy in motion.”
Credit: Supplied
The World Breaking Finals get underway in Manchester on 16 August at Aviva Studios, and it’s all set up to be arguably the biggest yet.
General admission went on sale this past Friday, 13 March, with adult tickets starting from only £20 and kids from just a tenner.
As we mentioned before, this isn’t the only big sporting date coming to Manchester this year, with the likes of the British basketball’s annual Cup Finals concluding at AO Arena and another big Super League set to for a grandstand finish at our other big indoor entertainment venue…
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via Get the Affects Communications)
Sport
The Premier League and EFL should follow La Liga’s lead and bring Retro Matchdays to the UK
Danny Jones
Following the news that La Liga is set to debut a new ‘Retro Matchday’ round, we can’t help but ask the question: why didn’t the Premier League and EFL think of this first?
Well, technically, neither did the Spaniards, but you take our point.
Anyone who follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or even the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) equivalent here in the UK and mainland Europe, will know that the concept is nothing new – but by and large, it seems to be for the beautiful game.
In case you missed it, in an effort to further capitalise on the increasing trend of vintage and classic football kit fashion/the wider nostalgia culture that only seems to be growing every year, Spain’s top two tiers will soon host their inaugural Retro Matchday gameweek next month, and we want a piece of it.
Set to be hosted from Friday, 10 April, over the usual weekend of football in their premier and second division, and running until the final lot of fixtures on Monday, 13 April (no, thankfully not an April Fool’s), supporters will get to see players step out onto the pitch in some of the country’s most iconic kits.
Depending on who you ask, some would argue that Spain has some of the nicest footy shirts all time, whether that be the national side or clubs themselves.
To be honest, we definitely have a soft spot for a proper European throwback – we’re thinking Borussia Dortmund’s 1995/96 home kit, the Napoli kits of the 80s, that amazing Toyota-sponsored Fila Fiorentina kit at the turn of the millennium – and even some of the best 2000s ones now look so old-school.
In fact, we actually had a taster of these kinds of special matches in the past, including here in 0161 for the likes of the Manchester Derby.
Reminds me of the Manchester derby in 2008 where they played in retro kits due to it coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Looked absolutely brilliant. pic.twitter.com/TLRjKHThbG
When you also take into account that, besides collectors already creating a whole new craze in filling their cupboards with classic kits, the likes of Nike, Adidas and more now regularly turning to old designs like the ‘Futura’, Total 90′ and various ‘adi Originals’ revivals of late, it’s more the rage than ever.
Birmingham’s recent ‘penguin’ remake, Port Vale’s traditional 150th anniversary one, based on their 1953-54 season jersey, not to mention countless other lifestyle fashion collections inspired by historic releases, you can’t move for the stuff – so why not get them wearing it on the grass?
As mentioned, the likes of local ice hockey outfit Manchester Storm have been taking a leaf out of the NHL’s book for ages now, with the annual ‘Retro Nights’ proving to be some of the most popular dates on the calendar, even selling off original shirts in the stadium itself before, during and after the match.
We genuinely can’t think of a single football lover following a team at any level in the English football pyramid that wouldn’t LOVE this. In fact, plenty of them already go to the ground wearing their dad’s second-hand away strip, which has turned out to be a modern cult favourite among the next generation.
These are the kinds of ideas we can see fans actually getting behind; you can find out more HERE. Would you like to see a retro Premier League and/or EFL match day featuring your favourite kits from down the years?
Emily Sergeant -
12th June 2023 
