The FC Twente fans are in town for their side’s Europa League meeting against Manchester United this week but they arrived a bit earlier than some expected and decided to catch another game beforehand: the EFL match between Man City and Watford.
Yes, that same, tired old running joke seems to have rung true – at least this time.
It’s no secret that League Cup matches are much less well-attended than Premier League fixtures or European nights, so it was never going to be a sell-out crowd at the Etihad Stadium on this occasion – much to the delight of the Dutch supporters clearly enjoying an away day, or two.
Numerous clips were shared online and quickly went viral, with plenty of City supporters clearly amused by sudden pockets of Twente fans sprouting up around the ground.
As you’d expect, this was lapped up by other football fans online, especially those of rival clubs.
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All the usual suspects were rolled out: “At least they may slightly fill the Etihad for once”, “It was still half empty”, “You might finally hear a song” and so on.
To play devil’s advocate and do some Man City myth-busting for a moment, the stadium’s capacity is just over 53,000 and their attendances haven’t dropped below 50,000 once yet this season, the previous match recording a footfall of 52,846 for the game against Arsenal.
Man City went on to win the game 2-1 thanks to goals from Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes, as well as more minutes for youngsters James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly, who both started the game.
There was also a debut for 16-year-old debutant Kaden Braithwaite as they cruised fairly comfortably into the next round.
As for Twente, the Eredivisie side kicks off against compatriot Erik ten Hag’s side on Wednesday evening as Man United get the opening game of this year’s European campaign underway at 8pm – the fans have already taken over Shambles Square in the city and will soon be marching on Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, you can watch back the highlights of Man City vs Watford in the third round of the Carabao Cup down below:
Featured Images — @foolsgold_/@rodrisgrealish (via X)
Sport
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.
Danny Jones -
25th September 2024 
