UK pub chain and brewery, Greene King, have pledged at least £250,000 to women’s sport following the success of the Lionesses at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and as part of their continued efforts to back grassroots sports.
Greene King has been helping support women’s football specifically for some time now, having committed to airing as many Women’s Super League (WSL) games as they can from 2022 onwards and hosting talks with the likes of England star Alex Greenwood right here in Manchester.
Now, though, as part of their Proud to Pitch In scheme — an initiative that directly impacts grassroots sports including 10p from every pint of Greene King IPA sold going towards local clubs, sports centres, equipment and so on — the chain is doubling down on their support. Quite literally.
After already providing over £126,000 in funds to women’s sports groups across the UK since the scheme launched nearly two years ago, CEO Nick Mackenzie has now pledged to double that amount in an effort to continue the growth of women’s sport and grassroots support across the nation.
According to research carried out as part of Proud to Pitch In, Greene King found that the average age women stop taking part in group sports is around 16, with a lack of female clubs in communities sadly playing a big part in that statistics.
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The study which polled 2,000 UK women revealed that other key reasons for ditching group sports include the poor quality of local facilities, as well as a lack of interest from friends.
However, the inspiring success of the Lionesses at the Euros and, most recently the World Cup, has led to a massive boost when it comes to interest in women’s sports, with over a quarter surveyed (26%) saying they felt the success of the team had inspired them to take part in more sporting activity.
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As Mackenzie himself put it: “The England team over the last year has changed women’s sport for good. We’ve seen a massive increase in support from our customers right across the UK as pubgoers flocked to their local to cheer on the team, and we’ve also seen a major uplift in women’s clubs applying for fundraising grants. It is vital we continue to build on that momentum.
Greene King IPA’s Head of Marketing, Emma Hibbert, also detailed how “Proud to Pitch In provides grassroots clubs with grants of up to £4,000 to help with whatever their club needs to succeed, and the best thing is it’s open to any over-18 clubs, regardless of the sport…
“To date we’ve provided funding for some incredible projects so far, from rowing clubs to cricket teams and football clubs, and so far, we’ve given over £500,000 in grants to over 200 clubs, including men’s sport, women’s sport, and mixed clubs.”
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Quality stuff. If you know a local women’s club or sports facility that could do with some extra support, you can apply for funding Proud to Pitch In funding HERE.
As for the Lionesses, the legacy they are leaving behind is truly huge and while they may not have lifted the World Cup this year, their influence secured another big win for women’s football and female representation across sport in general last week:
Featured Image — Jason Bye/The Manc Group/Lionesses
Sport
Pep Guardiola delivers gutting news as Man City are hit with Erling Haaland injury blow
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola has passed on some gutting fitness news for Manchester City fans as star striker Erling Haaland is confirmed to be injured for several weeks and could even miss the rest of the Premier League season.
The title might be out of reach this year, and the Champions League knockout against Real Madrid was definitely hard for Blues to take, but with Man City into the semi-finals of the FA Cup, there’s still a very strong chance they could end 2024/25 with a piece of silverware.
However, they’ll have to make it through another two massive rounds at Wembley and seemingly the remainder of the season without Haaland and his goals, as the Catalan coach revealed that the club expects him to be out injured for “six to seven weeks.”
Not exactly how City fans would have wanted to see the rest of an already frustrating season play out.
🗣️ "We don't have another player with his skills."
Relaying diagnosis from the medical team, Pep said the hope is that the big Norwegian number nine could be back for the very tail end of the campaign, but at the very least, he “will be ready for the [FIFA Club] World Cup.”
He went on to add that “these kinds of things happen” and that he feels “sorry” for all of the other injuries that have befell his squad up till now, adding that they can only hope for a speedy recovery and for him to return as soon as possible.
The 24-year-old hasn’t had too many big injury problems in his career thus far, although his longest spell on the sidelines did come at the end of 2023 when a stress fracture kept him out until the new year.
This time around, Haaland suffered an injury to his ankle during the City’s FA Cup win over Bournemouth on Sunday following a challenge from defensive midfielder Lewis Cook.
He was forced in the second half and was seen leaving the Vitality Stadium on crutches after the game.
Erling Haaland seen leaving Bournemouth in a protective boot and crutches. 🤕
Having led the golden boot race for a good chunk of the season – as he’s become accustomed too since he arrived in England – City‘s sub-optimal season has seen him slink into second behind high-flying Mo Salah on 27, but he still has a couple dozen goals and a trio of assists to show for it.
Speaking of Salah, the soon-to-leave ‘Egyptian King’ has been the talisman for Liverpool this season, and his contributions could see them lift the trophy in Arne Slot’s first season as early as 13 April, depending on how fellow title rivals Arsenal fare in their next two matches.
As for how City round out their domestic campaign, reclaiming the FA Cup after last year’s derby disappointment looks like the main goal.
You can watch Pep Guardiola’s press conference ahead of the game against Leicester City at 19:45pm tomorrow (Wednesday, 2 April) in full HERE.
Masters Football isn’t just back – it’s coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
The much-loved Masters Football format made its glorious comeback in 2022, and since then, it’s been steadily rebuilding an audience of passionate fans, plenty of whom you’ll find here in the sporting city of Manchester – so it’s a good job the national tournament is heading our way.
That’s right, the official English Masters Football competition is coming to 0161 later this year and will be bringing a host of legendary North West talent from years gone by to take part.
Although the full squads and their team captains have yet to be announced, former professionals from Manchester United, Man City, Liverpool, Everton, and more will be lacing back up their boots.
Manchester Masters Football 2025 lands at the equally iconic AO Arena this September.
Credit: Publicity Pictures (supplied)
For anyone unfamiliar with Masters Football, which developed a die-hard following when it first ran between 2000 and 2011, is shorter, indoor-only six-a-side footy tournament similar to futsal.
Each team will feature eight retired players, and the games unfold in a round-robin format, with each match consisting of two eight-minute halves, meaning that both sides have a little over a quarter of an hour to score enough to make it past the other.
In addition to the quicker matches, they will battle it out on a 60m x 30m pitch – the same size of an international ice hockey rink – and whoever makes it through with the highest points will battle it out in a grand final to claim the Manchester Masters title.
As you can see, players set to star this year include ex-United and City defenders Wes Brown and Joleon Lescott, as well as Liverpool and Everton strikers Djibril Cisse and Yakubu Ayegbeni.
You can see some of the best moments from the year it officially returned to the UK down below:
The Manchester edition of the 2025 English Masters Football Tournament Series arrives at the AO Arena on Friday, 5 September.
Doors will open to the venue from 6pm, with the first match kicking off at 7pm, so you better have drinks and snacks in time for bums to hit seats.
As for tickets, there’ll be two chances at early access, first for Three+ mobile members at 10am on Wednesday, 2 April and then via the venue’s presale window at the same time the following day. General admission tickets will be made available, also from 10am, the following Saturday, 5 April.
Danny Jones -
27th August 2023 
