The former Lancashire and England cricketer, turned popular TV personality and presenter – whose real name is Andrew, but is more commonly-known by the nickname of ‘Freddie’ – was understood to have been helping coach the England limited-overs squads in an unpaid consultancy role over the last few months.
But now, the 45-year-old has landed his first full-time gig after officially being named as the new Head Coach of the Men’s Northern Superchargers team.
Founded in 2019, the Northern Superchargers are a Leeds-based franchise 100-ball cricket team that represent the areas of North East England and Yorkshire in The Hundred competition.
The Preston-born sportsman – who is renowned as one of England’s greatest ever cricket players, having played over 200 times for his country as an all-rounder, before retiring in 2009 – has taken over from ex-England wicketkeeper James Foster, who left the Head Coach role earlier this month.
As mentioned, this is one of Flintoff’s first full-time roles since he was involved in a horror crash while filming for Top Gear back in mid December 2022.
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Although the BBC said at the time that his injuries were not life-threatening, sources close to the former England captain revealed he’d been left “psychologically traumatised” following the incident, and said it was likely he would “never return” to Top Gear filming.
He was seen for the first time in the public eye as he sat on the home balcony at England’s opening One Day International match against New Zealand in Cardiff in early September, where he could be seen displaying the ‘serious injuries’ – most notably to his face – he sustained, and then spoke publicly for the first time about “the hardest time” in his life as he presented an England cap to spin bowler Tom Hartley last month.
Freddie Flintoff has been appointed head coach of the Northern Superchargers / Credit: Northern Superchargers
Flintoff says he is “excited” to step into his new role.
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“My time with the England Men’s team has been a reminder of just how special cricket is to me,” Flintoff said in a statement following the appointment, “I’m relishing the opportunity to be back amongst it, helping to guide the Superchargers team to success on the field while making memories off it and helping to take cricket to more people.
“The Superchargers have a great fan base who I cannot wait to meet and bring along with us this season.
“I’m looking forward to making Headingley my new home.”
Featured Image – The Hundred
Sport
Tickets go live as opening date is announced for Manchester City’s new ‘immersive’ museum experience
Emily Sergeant
Tickets to visit Manchester City’s new ‘immersive’ museum experience have officially gone live ahead of the grand opening.
Set to open in the heart of the £300m Medlock Square entertainment district at Manchester’s Etihad Campus next month, the Manchester City Museum Experience will be spread across 10 distinctive spaces – with visitors invited to take a trip down memory lane with nostalgic environments from throughout the club’s history.
Fans will also be able to take part in interactive media experiences, like posing with all 48 major trophies won by the club’s first teams or trying their hand at football punditry.
The experience will combine the latest immersive technology with physical memorabilia drawn from across the club’s history to do this.
Hidden details and surprising ‘did you know’ facts are set to be embedded across the experience, so that even the most devoted Man City fans will have the chance to discover something new about the club they love.
By combining interactive environments, technology, and authentic artefacts, the experience is aiming to appeal to a wide audience – from lifelong Manchester City supporters, to families and those with a broader interest in football, culture, and the city of Manchester.
“The Museum Experience has been designed as a destination that goes beyond just the pitch,” commented Jeremy Maxton, who is the Director of Visitor Attractions at Manchester City Football Club.
Manchester City releases CGIs and important details of its new ‘immersive’ museum / Credit: Manchester City / Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA)
“Whether you’re a lifelong supporter, visiting Manchester for a weekend, or simply looking for a unique day out, we’ve created an experience that offers something for everyone.
“From the recreated environments and original memorabilia to the interactive elements, there are different ways into the Club’s history throughout the Museum.
“We’ve also built in space for new stories to be added over time, so the experience can continue to evolve. It’s been a huge project to bring together and we’re looking forward to people seeing it for themselves later this year.”
The Manchester City Museum Experience officially opens on 14 December, and you can now book tickets to visit from that date here.
Featured Image – Credit: Manchester City / Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA)
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)
Emily Sergeant -
15th November 2023 
