Open for about 18 months now, Scholes Gym in Oldham — set up by former footballer Paul Scholes, his son Aaron and daughter Alicia — is not just the best place for a workout in the borough but arguably one of the best gyms you’ll find anywhere in Greater Manchester.
After paying the place a visit and meeting up with Aaron and Paul in person to discuss how the gym has developed since it first launched, we got a great insight into what sets this place apart from other standard gyms.
Now boasting six dedicated PTs on their roster, multiple purpose-built training rooms across two floors and even an in-house app that lets you manage all your membership stuff and any classes you choose to take up, they’ve pretty much thought of everything.
Alicia might have been away playing for London Pulse Netball at the time and had to take a step back from helping run the gym for the time being, but here’s what the pair had to say about how the business is going so far:
As you can see even just from this short clip, this isn’t just some small independent fitness centre thrown together with a spare bit of cash: it’s a massive venue with big open spaces packed out with the best equipment that rivals virtually any other gym, commercial or otherwise, that you’d find in the region.
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Stocking the main free weight and resistance room with the high-end gear from Primal Strength — plenty of which is completed with the Scholes Gym branding, no less — you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to strength training.
As well as separate rooms down the corridor for things like boxing, they’ve even got one of the state-of-the-art reaction timers known as BATAK machines that you see Premier League footballers using in training and you know full well they don’t come cheap.
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Up on the second storey, you’ll find treadmills, cross trainers, rowing machines, exercise bikes and other cardio machines. The entire room is kitted out with a big sound system and a large projector screen too, so no matter what floor you’re on, you’ll always have something to keep you entertained while slogging it out. No headphones are needed here, really.
Credit: The Manc Group
If Scholesy’s interview on The Overlap is anything to go by (a great watch, by the way), we’d guess the total cost of putting this spot together has gone far beyond that initial £500k outlay now…
All this is another way of saying that although there are a lot of shiny things to draw you in here, you’ll never be bumping elbows or fighting to get on machines in here, especially without being a bit more out of the way rather than near to the city centre.
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Naturally, with the gym being located in Oldham, you would expect it to predominantly cater to locals in and around the town, but the fact it’s just a short walk from the Oldham Mumps tram stop means you could still get there if you fancied coming to try out a specific trainer or class. It’s 50% off your first month, which is a nice bonus.
It’s also worth assuring that although a lot of money has clearly gone into assembling a properly kitted-out facility like this, we wouldn’t exactly call this a luxury gym — not by nature or culture, at least.
The equipment might be top-of-the-range and you’ll want for nothing when it comes to training — there’s even a place to get protein shakes and a pool table in the reception (although you’ll have to fight Paul and Arron to get on that one) — but the people who come in here are just like anyone else.
There are people taking on demanding PT classes and already strong/athletic, sure, but it’s also a place where you can just turn up and do your own thing; it’s a place that gives off that open-door policy from the second you step into the building.
As Arron told us when we asked him about what makes it special, the family wanted to give something back to the local area and there’s a real community vibe to everything about Scholes Gym. They even hold BBQs and summer parties out in the back garden, as well as go on group trips outside of Oldham.
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Put simply: it’s a Manc gym, put together by a Manc legend, filled with other Mancs and one that makes you feel welcome like only someone from around here can. We could find another way to describe it if we needed to, but we reckon you know exactly what we mean.
‘Nothing is eternal’: Is Pep Guardiola hinting at the end of Manchester City’s supremacy?
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola looks to have suggested that more than a decade of Manchester City’s supremacy and Premier League dominance at the very least might be coming to an end.
Speaking in his post-match press interviews after City were knocked out of the Champions League by serial European Cup winners Real Madrid, Guardiola cut a somewhat more deflated figure than usual following the 3-1 defeat.
A Kylian Mbappe hattrick which was closed out within an hour of play was enough to stretch the aggregate score to 6-3 over the two legs and Madrid doubling their lead across the tie proved yet again why, not unlike City domestically over the last decade, they’re the kings of the continental competition.
In contrast, however, Pep seemed to accept the loss much more easily than perhaps we’ve seen in the past and rather than appearing familiarly frustrated or defiant in the press conference; instead, he seemed rather reflective, responding to one reporter: “Nothing is eternal”.
🗣️ "Nothing is eternal" – Pep Guardiola.
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Insisting that they have to decide whether a significant rebuild is needed to keep competing at the very top level consistently as they have done since the 54-year-old arrived back in 2016, he argued that it is only with that they’ll be able to determine what comes next.
As for the result itself, he made no bones about Carlo Ancelotti’s side having “deserved it”, stating simply that “the best team won” and that fans and players alike have to “accept the reality: they were better.”
Having been a familiar foe for Pep long before he arrived in Manchester, both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – not to mention City having faced Los Blancos a dozen times before Tuesday night since 2012 – there have been less surprising outcomes for supporters to come to terms with.
“With time, the club and everyone is going to accept what it is but for now we have 30/40 games for the Premier League next season to try and be here [in the Champions League] and to improve. Nothing is eternal”, said the Catalan coaching genius.
On the other hand, he also went on to add that it was merely a reflection on the night itself and not what his team have achieved in recent years.
He went on to remark that “when we were playing outstanding it hurt more” to be knocked out of the UCL when he felt they deserved to stay in it, but still insisted: “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.” Tonight just wasn’t the night.
Who knows? Perhaps it was just some more melodrama from a manager with an undeniable flare for pageantry and playing into/in the face of narratives when he doesn’t come out on top – which hasn’t happened all that often until their dip in form this season.
Plus, there’s certainly still plenty for him and the fans to be positive about; not only has the arrival of their ‘Egyptian Prince’ and the media’s Mo Salah successor, Omar Marmoush, got plenty of people excited – especially after that first-half hattrick against Newcastle – but so too have the other January signings.
In fact, for all of his downplaying in this particular presser (which you can hear in full HERE), it felt like there were only upsides after their victory over Newcastle, even going so far as to dub new signing Nico Gonzalez a ‘mini-Rodri‘.
You can watch the highlights from the game down below:
Pep is right, nothing is eternal – but sometimes you just come up against talents like Mbappe and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
Sale Sharks sign highly-rated Harlequins hooker, Nathan Jibulu
Danny Jones
Sale Sharks are investing in youth with their latest bit of transfer business after signing one of the Harlequins’ hottest prospects, Nathan Jibulu.
The highly-rated hooker, who has already nine appearances this season, including more than half a dozen in the Gallagher Premiership, has been exciting plenty of scouts throughout rugby union and is already firmly in national team plans.
Having already been part of the England Under-20 and A squads, not to mention impressing at club level in a relatively short space of time, it’s a big coup for Sale.
From the Quins academy to the right side of Shark-infested waters.
Jibulu joined the Twickenham-based outfit back in 2022 just a year after they won their second English championship (a full decade since their first) after previously attending Seaford College and representing nearby Wimbledon Warriors.
However, now the six-foot and seriously strong forward will be swapping the life near the capital for the North and Greater Manchester, specifically.
Set to join Sale Sharks for the 2025/26 season – scheduled to kick off in September – he’s looking like a really strong addition to their front row and a future squads to come.
Speaking to the club in an official statement, he said: “When I was younger, whenever someone asked me, ‘what team would you want to play for?’ I’d always say Sale…
“I’ve scrummed a lot with Asher [Opoku-Fordjour] and I got to know him pretty well. I always tell him how special and different he is, and I can’t wait to play with him.
“The way the club has developed him and nurtured him to become an established Premiership and England player speaks volumes about the coaching and the support that he’s getting at Sale.
“The entire front row is in the England squad, with the Curry boys too, so that tells you that someone at the club is doing something right. I looked at that and I said, ‘why would you not want to be there?’”
Still just 22 years old and having made just as many appearances for his soon-to-be former club, Sale weren’t the only ones chasing his signature.
Jibulu went on to add: “I love those games where you go toe-to-toe physically, so all of that attracted me straight away, and then speaking to people who are there already, they said all the stuff that I really like so it was a no brainer when the opportunity came about.”
As for his impending coach, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said: “Nathan is really driven, he understands what he wants from his life and his career, and he knows how he’s going to get it.
“He’s a young lad but he’s incredibly mature and he’s got the game and the physical attributes to match. I’ve got no doubt he’ll play for England in the future and we’re really excited to bring him to the club.”
Currently sat seventh in the table after another at times promising but somewhat frustrating start to the year, the summer can’t come soon enough for Sale.
Danny Jones -
14th October 2023 
