GB News’ ‘Alternative Match of the Day’ was so bad we’re convinced it was a parody
It didn't show any of the actual football, there were technical issue and since they couldn't actually analyse anything, the presenters just kept calling people 'woke'.
In a bit of guerilla broadcasting that absolutely nobody asked for, GB News decided to run their own ‘Alternative Match of the Day‘ programme on Saturday, just without showing any of the football…
That’s right, after the fallout from the BBC asking Gary Lineker to ‘step away’ from his duties on the football analysis show and UK TV institution, with his fellow pundits and presenters all standing in solidarity and boycotting the latest episodes, alternative media outlet GB News decided to step in.
However, since it is mainly BBC, Sky and BT that have the rights to the weekend’s action, their coverage could only go so far as showing a few still images of the games and a big graphic which read the title of the show while they listed the various scores.
Unbelievably, that wasn’t even the worst bit. Since they had no footage to watch back or actual sporting people to break down and analyse the matches with any real insight, they just resorted to repeating buzzwords from the ‘anti-woke’ thesaurus. Brace for cringe.
While we won’t purport to have sat through this tripe, it seems as though the majority of the broadcast went on and on like this without anyone asking the question, “shall we talk about the football now?”, “whose idea was this again?” or “can you make it stop?”.
As one person remarked on Twitter, it was “kind of GB News to remind everyone how brilliant MOTD usually is”, but there was also some seriously problematic stuff on show too, with LGBTQ+ newsletter Out and Out Football noting that “while it’s fun to mock the fragile masculinity on show, the comment about Brighton being ‘full of rainbow flags’ is pure homophobia.”
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Fortunately, as this brave soldier wrote in his caption, he “watched this sh*t so you wouldn’t have to”.
A lowlight compilation of GB News’s ‘Alternative Match of the Day’. I watched this shit so you wouldn’t have to. pic.twitter.com/9S2XRKpyhb
We don’t mind putting impartiality to the side on the odd occasion and sharing our unadulterated opinion on this one: we sincerely hope this is the last time GB News ever feels like they need to provide the UK’s footy fans and TV viewership an alternative Match of the Day. We assure you, we can do without it.
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That being said, the latest development in the BBC boycott situation is that Gary Lineker is expected to return to presenting sport sometime soon with an apology from the corporation also being rumoured.
BREAKING: Gary Lineker is due to return to hosting sport for the BBC, SSN understands pic.twitter.com/MW9Ie0qSBi
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 -
13th March 2023 
