Inclusive football team Manchester Laces are set to break even more new ground as they prepare to compete in the Adobe FA Women’s Cup for the first time ever.
What a truly incredible few years it’s been for the club.
Set to play their maiden match in the female division of the sport’s oldest competition this weekend, Manchester Laces’ Yellows squad will be taking on rival Greater Manchester Women’s Football League (GMWFL) side, Northwich Victoria, in another historic milestone for the local outfit.
Announced last month, the game is now fast approaching, and they’re hoping that plenty of Manc natives will turn up in support.
For anyone unfamiliar with the story, Manchester Laces has grown to become the leading women’s, non-binary and LGBTQIA+ positive sporting bodies in the region.
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In fact, as part of a wider family (which includes clubs in Hackney, South London and Limehouse Laces, not to mention players over in Canada too), they’re comfortably one of the biggest in the entire country.
Sticking with MCR Laces alone, founded by Helen Hardy, they have grown so much in reputation and size that they have six different teams besides just the Yellows: the other Manchester squads include the Blues, Greens, Oranges, Purples, as well as the budding new Reds and Blacks.
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It’s this kind of impressive expansion and, crucially, representation that has seen them win two Football v Homophobia Awards and Grassroots Initiative of the Year back in 2023.
Side-note: they also happen to have one of our favourite fooy kits of the entire year so far…
Boasting a new regular stadium at Timpson Road and set to take part not only in the North West Women’s Regional Football League (NWWFL)/GMWFL, but now FA Cup and county cup games, 2025 could be their most momentous year yet.
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Providing access to countless women and people from within the queer and non-binary community who love the beautiful game and may have otherwise struggled to find an outlet, their work has been crucial in and around Greater Manchester.
With that in mind, taking part in an inaugural run within the prestigious knockout tournament feels like yet another watershed moment for the organisation.
Posting ahead of the fixture, the club wrote on social media: “In 2021, we started our journey in Div 2 of the GMWFL with the aim of creating an inclusive and welcoming space for all. After winning consecutive league titles and earning back-to-back promotions, we are now a Tier 6 team.
Speaking to The Manc, they went on to add: ” A group of mates came together at a park in Wythenshawe for a kick about, feeling a little out of place at other clubs; ‘we should make our own team‘ was thrown out as a somewhat joke.
“A month later, a friendly was played where nine people turned up to start the game, somebody’s girlfriend who’d never kicked a ball played left wing, and a hungover mate turned up after half time to get us to 11 (somehow we won the game).
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“Four years later – after becoming one of the largest LGBTQ+ clubs in the country, housing 8 teams – our Yellow side, after back-to-back promotions, will be competing in the FA cup for the very first time.
“We’re so proud as a club to be competing in such a historic competition, as a club that set up to focus on being inclusive and a safe space for people to play football, to achieve what we have is beyond what we could have ever imagined.”
Tickets for Manchester Laces’ debut FA Cup game are just £2 and can be purchased on entry
They signed off by quipping that their story is one that serves as “proof that you can, in fact, fall upwards”, but in all seriousness, what they’ve achieved in such a short time is nothing short of remarkable.
Playing at Ericstan Park, now both the home of Wythenshawe Town FC and the Yellows’ own new home ground too, they kick off at 2pm on Sunday, 7 September. It goes without saying that we wish them the best of luck.
The 2026 World Breaking Finals of the UK B-Boy Championships are coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s official: the UK B-Boy Championships are returning to Manchester this year for the 2026 World Breaking Finals, in what is a special anniversary for the annual tournament.
Celebrating three decades since the inaugural event this summer, the UK B-Boy Champs will once again remind fans why they still remain among the gold standard for competitive breakdancing.
With elite breakers and dance battlers from more than 20 different countries in attendance – and plenty of contestants from each, at that – it’s going to be a real global showcase of talent.
Returning to Manchester once again, we can’t wait to see breakdancing take over the Factory International concourse and wider campus.
Anyone in the world will know that the city also hosted another big European equivalent back in 2022 on behalf of the 2022 World DanceSport Federation, but the UK B-Boy Championships have a passionate following of their own.
This also happens to be the 30th anniversary of the event, so it’s a momentous occasion on many levels.
With live music from not only classic artists and legendary MCs, but artists for the future too, there’ll be plenty of tunes and impressive moves from start to finish.
Coming to Aviva Studios this summer, they’ve billed it quite short and sweet: “The sickest breakers on the planet will battle in a once-in-a-generation celebration of Hip-Hop culture.”
They’re promising “High-stakes rivalries. Gravity-defying moves”, and “Unforgettable performances”, adding, “This isn’t just another battle – this is the Champs legacy in motion.”
Credit: Supplied
The World Breaking Finals get underway in Manchester on 16 August at Aviva Studios, and it’s all set up to be arguably the biggest yet.
General admission went on sale this past Friday, 13 March, with adult tickets starting from only £20 and kids from just a tenner.
As we mentioned before, this isn’t the only big sporting date coming to Manchester this year, with the likes of the British basketball’s annual Cup Finals concluding at AO Arena and another big Super League set to for a grandstand finish at our other big indoor entertainment venue…
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via Get the Affects Communications)
Sport
The Premier League and EFL should follow La Liga’s lead and bring Retro Matchdays to the UK
Danny Jones
Following the news that La Liga is set to debut a new ‘Retro Matchday’ round, we can’t help but ask the question: why didn’t the Premier League and EFL think of this first?
Well, technically, neither did the Spaniards, but you take our point.
Anyone who follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or even the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) equivalent here in the UK and mainland Europe, will know that the concept is nothing new – but by and large, it seems to be for the beautiful game.
In case you missed it, in an effort to further capitalise on the increasing trend of vintage and classic football kit fashion/the wider nostalgia culture that only seems to be growing every year, Spain’s top two tiers will soon host their inaugural Retro Matchday gameweek next month, and we want a piece of it.
Set to be hosted from Friday, 10 April, over the usual weekend of football in their premier and second division, and running until the final lot of fixtures on Monday, 13 April (no, thankfully not an April Fool’s), supporters will get to see players step out onto the pitch in some of the country’s most iconic kits.
Depending on who you ask, some would argue that Spain has some of the nicest footy shirts all time, whether that be the national side or clubs themselves.
To be honest, we definitely have a soft spot for a proper European throwback – we’re thinking Borussia Dortmund’s 1995/96 home kit, the Napoli kits of the 80s, that amazing Toyota-sponsored Fila Fiorentina kit at the turn of the millennium – and even some of the best 2000s ones now look so old-school.
In fact, we actually had a taster of these kinds of special matches in the past, including here in 0161 for the likes of the Manchester Derby.
Reminds me of the Manchester derby in 2008 where they played in retro kits due to it coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Looked absolutely brilliant. pic.twitter.com/TLRjKHThbG
When you also take into account that, besides collectors already creating a whole new craze in filling their cupboards with classic kits, the likes of Nike, Adidas and more now regularly turning to old designs like the ‘Futura’, Total 90′ and various ‘adi Originals’ revivals of late, it’s more the rage than ever.
Birmingham’s recent ‘penguin’ remake, Port Vale’s traditional 150th anniversary one, based on their 1953-54 season jersey, not to mention countless other lifestyle fashion collections inspired by historic releases, you can’t move for the stuff – so why not get them wearing it on the grass?
As mentioned, the likes of local ice hockey outfit Manchester Storm have been taking a leaf out of the NHL’s book for ages now, with the annual ‘Retro Nights’ proving to be some of the most popular dates on the calendar, even selling off original shirts in the stadium itself before, during and after the match.
We genuinely can’t think of a single football lover following a team at any level in the English football pyramid that wouldn’t LOVE this. In fact, plenty of them already go to the ground wearing their dad’s second-hand away strip, which has turned out to be a modern cult favourite among the next generation.
These are the kinds of ideas we can see fans actually getting behind; you can find out more HERE. Would you like to see a retro Premier League and/or EFL match day featuring your favourite kits from down the years?
Danny Jones -
4th September 2025 
