Sport

Greater Manchester cleans up as Man City, United, Bolton, Salford, Altrincham and more win at the North West Football Awards

Manchester will always dominate when it comes to football.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 7th November 2023

It was a night full of celebration for football in Manchester on Monday evening as five different local teams were honoured at the 2023 North West Football Awards.

Held at the Emirates Old Trafford on what was a typically wet night in Greater Manchester, it was also raining in recognition as local clubs throughout the English football pyramid picked up a number of awards across multiple categories.

Not only did Erling Haaland and Pep Guardiola win Premier League Player and Manager of the Season for 2023 (of course), but Manchester City‘s Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw won Women’s Player of the Year, as well as Manchester United star Mary Earps picked up this year’s Impact Award.

Here’s what she had to say after picking up yet another personal accolade in a much-decorated 12 months for the Lionesses‘ World Cup hero.

Things also stayed close to home further down the league, with Bolton Wanderers’ Dion Charles, Salford City’s Elliot Watt and Altrincham FC’s Josh Lundstram all winning POTY for League One, League Two and the National League, respectively.

ADVERTISEMENT

Bolton also picked up the PFA’s Community Club of the Season award, with Lancashire side AFC Fylde coming a close second and being “highly commended” for the work over the year or so, City Xtra winning best Fan Media and BBC Radio Manchester’s Natalie Pike winning Northwest Football Broadcaster of the Season. A huge haul for the 10 boroughs all told.

You can see the full list of winners down below:

ADVERTISEMENT
  • Rising Star — Adam Mayor, Morecambe
  • Women’s Rising Star — Missy Bo Kearns, Liverpool
  • National League Player of the Season — Josh Lundstram, Alty FC
  • League Two Player of the Season — Elliot Watt, Salford
  • League One Player of the Season — Dion Charles, Bolton
  • Championship Player of the Season — Josh Cullen, Burnley
  • Premier League Player of the Season — Erling Haaland, Man City
  • Women’s Player of the Season — Khadija Shaw, Man City
  • Billy Seymour Impact Award — Mary Earps, Man United
  • PFA Community Clubs of the Season — Everton and Bolton
  • Unsung Hero: Ted Morris — Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association
  • Fabrice Muamba Award for Football Medicine and Performance — Alan Raw
  • Manager of the Season — Pep Guardiola, Man City
  • Lifetime Contribution Award — Alex Williams MBE

Read more:

In truth, we’re always chuffed but never too surprised to see the awards collected in and around Greater Manchester as the region’s rich football heritage speaks for itself.

It was only last month that Man City picked up Men’s Club of the Year for the second year running following their incredible treble-winning season.

ADVERTISEMENT

But it isn’t just football that this city does best; we’d go so far as to say Manchester is a sporting mecca; in fact, we have — many times:

@the.manc Trafford is the sporting capital of Manchester ⚽️🏏 #trafford #oldtrafford #manchesterunited #ifly #indoorskydiving #altyfc #chillfactore #manchesteroriginals ♬ Exercise – Vin Music

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Erling Haaland (via Instagram)/North West Football Awards (via X)

Sport

Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet named coach of the year after historic quadruple-winning season

Danny Jones Danny Jones Matt Peet wins SJA Committee coach of the year award after quadruple-winning season

Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet has been named coach of the year by the Sports Journalists’ Association Committee (SJA) following his record-breaking season with the champions.

Peet led the Greater Manchester side to four Grand Slams in a single calendar year, a feat never seen before in the Super League era, achieving the historic feat with a Grand Final win over Hull KR at Old Trafford last month.

In recognition of his incredible 2024 campaign in charge of the Warriors, the Wigan-born local hero was awarded the SJA Committee Award, handed over to the most outstanding coach each year, on Wednesday, 20 November for the second time in his career.

The 40-year-old won the prestigious accolade during his first season with the club back in 2022 but it’s fair to say this one will feel even more special.

The Warriors began the season by defeating Penrith Panthers at The Brick Community Stadium to lift a record-equalling fifth World Club Challenge before success in the Betfred Challenge Cup Final saw Wigan beat fellow North West outfit, Warrington Wolves, at Wembley Stadium in June.

Having sealed the League Leaders’ Shield following a final-round win against local rivals Salford Red Devils, the Warriors then went on to beat Hull – who were competing in their first Grand Final – to become the first team of the Super League era to lift all four trophies within the space of just 12 months.

Speaking on the award via an official club statement, Peet said: “I’m very proud and very grateful to be selected by the committee. It reflects really well on our organisation, our club, players and rugby league in general.

“We never set out with an ambition to win the quadruple, we just set out to improve and learn. It’s not an award rugby league is synonymous with, so to know our sport is getting some recognition, it makes me very proud to be at the forefront of it.”

He went on to tell Sky Sports that it was the “energy and the atmosphere” of Wigan that helped get them across the line after so many games, insisting that they “had the whole town behind [them]”.

Read more:

It’s a truly fantastic achievement and to have the award brought home to Greater Manchester once again is wonderful news no matter who you support.

The fixtures for the 2025 Super League season are set to be released tomorrow (Thursday, 21 November), with the action getting underway in February as usual. The Summer Festival of Rugby League will also return after a year off with a blockbuster May Bank Holiday weekend in Newcastle.

Not only will it be a decade since the event was first held in the Toon but it also marks the Magic Weekend’s 18th birthday.

As for SJA coach of the year Matt Peet and the Warriors, it’s looking like a question of just how many titles can they defend next year.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Sky Sports

Sport

Pep Guardiola agrees new contract to stay at Manchester City for at least one more year

Danny Jones Danny Jones Pep stay at Man City for one more year new deal

Blues will be delighted to hear that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is staying after agreeing to sign a contract extension that will keep him at the club for at least one more year.

The Catalan coach and supremely talented tactician has won all there is to win with Man City and after completing not only a record-matching treble but making history by becoming the first English team to win four Premier League titles in a row, you could argue his Etihad project is well and truly completed.

Guardiola, who joined City back in 2016, has gradually been creeping towards the end of his most recent contract, leaving those slowly searching for his replacement and the fan base wondering what the future holds for their next chapter.

But it turns out they don’t have to worry about life after Pep for a little while longer, as the 53-year-old has now extended his stay for at least another season. The blue moon that has loomed over Manchester for the best part of a decade isn’t going anywhere just yet.

Breaking the news on Tuesday evening, 19 November, The Athletic‘s Sam Lee revealed that Pep Guardiola will remain head coach for another season after agreeing to a new one-year deal.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager, who is comfortably one of the most decorated and celebrated coaches in football history, was due to leave the club at the end of the current campaign.

However, although his contract would have seen him depart by June of next year, this new deal will now see him stay in post until the summer of 2026, which will talk his tenure to a full 10 years.

Although City themselves are yet to confirm the signing amid the international break, it’s only a matter of time before they deliver the news all Blues have been waiting for – news that will no doubt come as a huge relief given the immense success he has brought to East Manchester.

Despite waiting until now to seemingly decide his future, the man himself has actually been pretty clear on the matter, insisting that he “fell in love” with the club from the moment he got here and saying as far back as 2020 that “unless they [CFG] sack me, I will stay here.”

Read more:

Better still, while the details of the agreement are yet to be fully detailed, the report says that his new contract also includes the option to extend for a further year beyond that, meaning we could be looking at Pep in the dugout until 2027.

Should City go on to close the gap on current league leaders Liverpool, it would mean Guardiola would have overseen five title wins with the same team in a row: a feat only matched by very few in European football, most notably Juventus and Bayern Munich, the latter having managed 13 consecutive years.

Who knows if/when Guardiola will actually leave the Etihad Stadium for a new challenge, all we know is he changed modern football forever and has given Manchester – a city already spoilt in this respect – some of the most impressive football it’s ever seen.

All we do know is that the beautiful game’s passionate, bald, tiki-taka extraordinaire known simply as Pep is staying in 0161 for the time being and there are countless fans who are absolutely buzzing about it.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Optus Sport/Sky Sports (via YouTube)/Rufus46 (via Wikimedia Commons)

More Sport

Tommy vs Darren Till press conference scrap chaos

News

Tommy Fury vs Darren Till press conference descends into foul-mouthed chaos

Manchester United stadium sleepout raises £30l for local homeless community

Manchester

Manchester United’s latest Stadium Sleep Out raises £30k for the homeless and vulnerable young people

Tommy Fury boxing in Manchester Co-op Live vs Darren Till

Sport

Tommy Fury announces return to boxing after dropping out of I’m a Celeb 2024 last-minute

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches