There ain’t no party like a Manchester City party, it seems, with some big celebrations last night following the club’s FA Cup victory against Manchester United.
Players were seen swigging beers in their pants while other staff at the club did belly slides through the dressing room at Wembley.
And then, weirdly, they were congratulated by Sir Elton John himself, who offered hugs to every player in turn.
If you’re going to look anywhere for the Manchester City post-match party scenes, it’s straight to Jack Grealish, who always seems to be at the heart of the chaos (who could forget his antics at the parade last year?)
On his Instagram stories, Grealish nicely summed up the celebrations in the dressing room after their 2-1 victory.
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He showed the players singing along to Wonderwall by Oasis and swigging Asahi, saying to the camera ‘Get it down ya!’.
Then he cuts to a video of Brandon Ashton, Man City’s kitman, doing topless belly slides across the floor.
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Manchester City dressing room celebrations. Credit: Instagram, @jackgrealishManchester City dressing room celebrations. Credit: Instagram, @jackgrealish
At one point, Ederson (wearing a blue afro wig) is seen lubricating the floor with more Asahi, like some weird beer-soaked version of Curling.
Egged on by Erling Haaland and John Stones, Brandon strips down to his underwear and keeps sliding around, at one point travelling all the way under the benches, at which point Grealish hilariously shouts: “Oi, watch my Gucci bag, f***ing hell!”
Once the dressing room party was over, it was off to the airport, where the entire team ambushed none other than Sir Elton John.
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On the strangely star-studded runway, the legendary musician – who had just finished his third gig at the AO Arena – stood in position offering hugs to each Man City player in turn.
Videos shared by the club show the bewildered Kevin de Bruyne, Manuel Akanji, Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, and Julian Alvarez each taking turns for a cuddle, while Phil Foden stopped to take a selfie with the rock music great.
Then the lads all surround Elton to serenade him with his own iconic song, Your Song.
The surreal videos even captured the moment Pep Guardiola is left awkwardly hanging with his hand up when he offers Elton a high-five.
There’s now just one week to go until the Champions League final, when Manchester City will seek to cinch the treble.
Featured image: Instagram, Manchester City
Sport
Oasis and adidas drop yet more new merch in the Live ’25 collection
Danny Jones
The Oasis and adidas love affair isn’t over just yet; it isn’t going anywhere, as the legendary Manc band group and global sports apparel franchise are releasing another batch of merch as part of the smash-hit Live ’25 collection.
After shirts, shoes, jackets and bucket hats galore sold out all over the world, adidas is now toasting not only the end of the reunion world tour but “the year that was Oasis” with a second drop in the already iconic crossover.
If you passed through Manchester at all during their Heaton Park homecoming run, you will have no doubt seen countless examples of the ‘adidas Originals x Oasis’ football shirt collaboration alone, not to mention several other bits of fashion in the official Live ’25 fashion line.
Now, just in time for Christmas, there’s a whole new set being introduced into the range of casual wear.
Simply titled ‘Oasis Live ‘25 Drop 2’, the latest additions to the adidas Originals collection are releasing next month and, obviously, will be sold in stores and online.
While the pop-up stores that opened up here in the city centre all over have now shut up shop, Greater Manchester’s adidas locations on Market Street – which turned into an Oasis fan paradise this past summer – and Pear Mill in Stockport will still be stocking the various bits of Britpop clobber.
Although the most recent items will be exclusively available domestically for now, they will be rolled out overseas in 2026.
Considering how quickly most of it sold out last time, you can guarantee most of the options to fly off the shelves just as fast here in the UK.
Honestly, we’ve only just managed to get our hands on the standard black ‘jacquard jersey’.
As you can see, a good chunk of the second drop is that same footy shirt in different colours and other tees in different lengths/variations.
Scheduled to launch on Friday, 12 December, the ‘Oasis x adidas Originals Live ‘25 Drop 2’ will go on sale at 9am sharpish, so you’d best get ready for a scrap in that digital queue.
Naturally, fans, fashionistas and collectors can expect virtually identical costs for the majority of pieces (and buying in-person will obviously help keep the cost down), though it does look like some price points have been adjusted.
As for the Live ’25 tour itself, now that the dust has settled on the ‘Oasis Mania‘ take two, Liam himself has taken to social media to express his gratitude in the most Gallagher way possible…
Sale Sharks sign Joe Marchant in positive boost for England rugby
Danny Jones
An impending rugby union returnee is simultaneously set to bring a positive boost to Steve Borthwick, too, as Joe Marchant has officially signed for Sale Sharks.
Not only will be a welcome restoration to the Gallagher Premiership but England as well, with Marchant’s domestic comeback once again making him available for international fixtures.
The former Harlequins centre has been playing in the French top 14 since after the 2023 Rugby World Cup (RWC), making over a half century of appearances for third-placed Stade Francais, but now he’s on his way back across the Channel on a deal until 2029.
Set to officially move to Greater Manchester and join Sale Sharks for the start of next season, Marchant – who made over 150 appearances for the Quins and shone as one of the stars in their 2021 Prem final win over Exeter – Marchant clearly wanted to put himself in contention for the 2027 RWC.
Nevertheless, there were numerous sides who emerged as suitors in the pursuit of the 29-year-old, but it was the Sharks who have ultimately won the race for his signature.
Addressing the supporters in an official club statement, Joe said: “When I spoke to [head coach] Alex Sanderson he explained the direction he wants to take the club and the ambition he has. It’s a club that wants to win trophies and I’d love to be a part of that.
“Sale have always been a tough team to play against, so I’m really looking forward being a part of that next season. There are a lot of lads at the club who I’ve played and trained with for England and it’ll be great to play with them again.
“They have some of the best players in the country and I can’t wait to play with them. I’d love to get back in the mix for England but I know that first I have to get back into the flow of the Prem and put in some good performances for Sale.”
The Winchester-born outside-centric midfielder, who is often deployed as a winger, represented his country at the last tournament and has 26 caps to his name, but his move to Europe meant that he was ineligible for selection until now.
Now clearly aiming to increase that tally as he approaches the end of his so-called ‘prime years’, he’ll prove to be a great bit of added strength in depth as Borthwick continues to oversee a great era for talent in the national pool. England fans can hopefully look forward to more impressive drives like this:
Sanderson went on to add: “Joe is a world class player. He’s got aspirations to play in the next World Cup and to do that he needs to play for a team that’s competing for the Prem. He believes that’s us.
“He’s got X-Factor on both sides of the ball and in the air. He’s got real gas and if we find him in that outside channels he’ll make something happen. But his ability to read the game defensively is just as impressive.
“He’s excited about playing outside George Ford. He’s some player and we can’t wait to get him here.”
Meanwhile, over in rugby league, the full list of fixtures and dates for the highly anticipated 2026 ‘Rivals Round’ have now been revealed.
Daisy Jackson -
4th June 2023 
