Ex-Arsenal and England players Ian Wright and Kelly Smith recently helped do up a set of girls’ changing facilities in Greater Manchester as part of a national community football initiative.
The former forwards and club legends teamed up with the Barclays to restore some female football facilities in Cheetham Hill on Tuesday, 7 February, chipping in with everything from plastering and painting to helping a group of young girls with some training.
The BCFF is committed to helping reduce inequalities across UK football, with grants made available annually to various groups that wish to start offering football programmes or expand their existing ones to new, under-represented audiences.
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Primarily focusing on women’s sport and young people from lower socio-economic and under-represented groups, as well as racially diverse communities, people with disabilities, and people from the LGBTQ+ community, the fund is set to support thousand across the UK.
It is thought around 5,500 different community groups will receive a total investment of £1 million a year, engaging more than 300,000 young people in inclusive football activities.
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As for VIY, members are being actively trained in skills such as painting, plastering and carpentry whilst working on this first section in a longer three-month improvement project at Cheetham Hill Sports Club.
Wright, 59, said: “I just want every girl to be able to play football if they want to. There are so many things that women’s and girls’ football needs. First, they need the pitch and the coaches. They also need facilities where they can feel safe, secure and valued, just like the boys do.
“That’s why the BCFF is important; it’s giving money to local projects in communities around the UK. There’s no point just focusing on the elite game; this is where the love and dreams start. This kind of investment into grassroots is where it’s going to make a real difference.”
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Following the success of the Lionesses and their historic Euro 2022 win, Wright was one of the first express the importance of capitalising on the momentum building in female sport.
Delivering a powerful speech last summer, he said: “If there’s no legacy after this, then what are we doing? Girls should be able to play”.
"If there is no legacy after this, then what are we doing? Because girls should be able to play." 🗣
As for Smith, who knows all too well the obstacles women and young girls, especially, can face when it comes to getting into the world of sport, she clearly recognised the importance of the fund’s work.
“All I’ve ever wanted to do was play football. Growing up, I was kicked off my local team because I was a girl and there was no girls’ team to join. It was soul-destroying.
“Giving girls a space they belong in football will make a difference. That’s why this build at Cheetham Hill is important. It’s exactly what I wanted and needed as a kid.”
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Thankfully, with the help of similar schemes like the sustainable community pitch unveiled by Phil Foden and Ella Toone, not to mention Andy Burnham’s push to back more girls to get into football, plenty of young girls will have the tools and safe place to get playing in Manchester.
Wigan unites in paying tribute to ‘much-loved’ local sports fan, Darren Orme, after body is found
Danny Jones
Wigan teams and the rest of the community have been paying tribute to local fan Darren Orme, whose body was sadly found earlier this week.
The passionate Wigan Athletic and Warriors supporter was a regular at both The Brick Community Stadium and the Latics’ former home, Spingfield Park. He was tragically found dead on Monday, 24 March, after being declared missing nearly three weeks ago.
As a “much-loved” personality among the regular footy and rugby crowds, his loss has hit both fan bases and the town as a whole hard, with countless locals sharing their condolences over the past few days.
Paying their respects to “a popular supporter” known to “thousands” for his “tireless efforts following the Latics“, the club shared a lengthy tribute to Orme on Tuesday.
The 54-year-old was last seen around 9pm on 5 March around the junction between Woodhouse Lane, Scot Lane and Beech Hill. Large-scale searches had been carried out by the local authorities and groups of volunteers following his disappearance.
His body was eventually located the body along a stretch of the River Douglas near Stadium Way just down from The Brick and Robin Park Arena.
Greater Manchester Police have since said they believe there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.
The Official Wigan Athletic Supporters Group – which Orme was a member of for the best part of four decades – said they have been left “devastated” by his passing, adding: “Darren was Wigan Athletic through and through, and he lived and breathed blue and white.
“We know that Darren will always be cheering Latics on in spirit.”
As for Wigan Warriors, who recognised him as an equally beloved character up in the stands, the team joined their footballing counterparts in paying a heartfelt tribute, with hundreds of fans laying flowers and wreaths outside the ground.
🌹 This morning, Wigan Warriors players and staff laid a wreath outside The Brick Community Stadium in memory of Darren Orme.
Writing as part of a joint statement on the club website, the rugby league side said: “We join in sending our sincerest condolences to Darren’s friends and family, and we ask supporters to respect their privacy during this extremely difficult time.
“As a Football Club, Wigan Athletic will pay tribute to Darren with a minute’s applause at the home fixture against Barnsley on Saturday, 29 March (3pm kick-off) whilst a minute’s applause will be held at Wigan Warriors’ game against Salford on Sunday.
“We would like to thank the Wigan community, including supporters of both Clubs, for coming together over the last few weeks in search of Darren. We encourage supporters to pay their respects and share their memories of Darren.
“Flowers, shirts, and scarfs can be laid at The Brick Community Stadium alongside Dave Whelan’s statue, while a Book of Condolences will be located in the Stadium Reception for fans to sign.”
Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, his fellow supporters and all those whose lives Darren Orme touched – rest in peace.
Featured Image — Greater Manchester Police/Wigan Warriors
Sport
Two Greater Manchester-based Paralympians pick up MBEs following Paris 2024 heroics
Danny Jones
A pair of Paralympians born just down the road and honed two discipline-leading national performance centres here in Manchester have officially been awarded MBEs.
The Northerners doing the country proud – sounds about right.
First off, if the name Poppy Maskill doesn’t ring a bell, the promising Paralympic was Team GB’s best-performing para-athlete at Paris 2024 this past summer, contributing a total of five medals towards the nation’s joint-third-highest tally.
After her heroics at the Games, the teenager who turns 20 this weekend (Saturday, 29 March) was the recipient of an early and very prestigious birthday present, becoming one of the youngest individuals to be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in history.
She was named on the New Year’s Honours list back in December but finally collected her latest medal in person this week following a ceremony at Windsor Castle, being honoured by King Charles III personally.
Hailing from Middlewich just less than an hour away from our city centre, Maskill might be a Cheshire girl by birth, but this young sporting gem is being polished right here at the state-of-the-art Manchester Aquatics Centre (MAC).
The youngster became the first Paralympian to pick up gold back in August after not only winning the 100m butterfly but smashing the world record in the process, too.
Competing in the S14 class – a category for athletes with intellectual impairments – she finished the heat with in just 1:03, surpassing the previous best by more than half a minute. But her impressive performance didn’t stop there.
MAC regular Maskill went on to win two more golds in the S14 100m backstroke and 4 x100m S14 freestyle relay, as well as a pair of silver medals in the 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley S14. Just incredible.
Poppy Maskill wasn’t the only Greater Manchester-based para-athlete who was recognised this month, though, as Stockport‘s very own two-time Paralympic champion Sophie Unwin was also presented with the accolade for her services to sport.
Named a member of the Order along with her co-pilot Jenny Holl, Unwin’s Paris 2024 medal haul included a double of golds in the women’s B 3000m individual pursuit and the road race tandem B, not to mention a silver in the road time trial and a bronze in the 1000m time trial at Paris 2024.
Following in the footsteps of fellow MBE and Stopfordian cycling legend, Dame Sarah Storey, who won her 19th gold medal to become Britain’s greatest Paralympian of all time – having made the most of MAC and the National Cycling Centre over in East Manchester during her career – the borough did us proud.
30-year-old Unwin has kicked on just as strong in the new year as well, notching a narrow victory to set an unofficial (unfortunately) world record of 4:36.737 in the women’s tandem at the 2025 Lloyds National Track Championships here in Manchester.
Danny Jones -
8th February 2023 
