The lineup for Soccer Aid 2023 is officially out and among the various big names gracing the much-loved charity game, Jill Scott has been confirmed as this year’s England captain.
Former Euro 2022-winning Lioness, Manchester City star and Queen of the Jungle, Jill Scott will become the first woman to lead out England in the event’s history.
She will be joined by several other ex-England players such as Jack Wilshere, Gary Neville, Jermain Defoe; Paul Scholes and Gary Cahill, as well as fellow former Lionesses Karen Carney and Eni Aluko.
Teasing the announcement via social media on Monday, the 36-year-old said that she’d “had [her] fun but there’s just no feeling like playing football” — it didn’t take long for people to figure it out.
Scott’s Three Lions will also feature a whole host of celebrity names, including the likes of influencer Chunkz, comedians Alex Brooker and Paddy McGuinness; Olympian Sir Mo Farah, musician Tom Grennan and more.
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As for the World XI, another record-holding Olympian and Soccer Aid regular will be captaining the international team in Usain Bolt, with celebrities such as comic and competition vet Lee Mack, entrepreneur and podcaster Steven Bartlett, as well as four-time scorer Kem Cetinay all joining him.
With Chelsea Women’s manager Emma Hayes once again co-managing England alongside Line of Duty and This Is England star, Vicky McClure, the home team will be hoping to get one over on Robbie Keane’s World XI. You can see the full Soccer Aid lineup for 2023 HERE.
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The visitors currently have six wins to England’s five since the inaugural Soccer Aid back in 2006.
Dermot O’Leary and Alex Scott will be presenting this year’s Soccer Aid (Credit: ITV/Soccer Aid)
As for the captain herself, ‘Big Jill’, she told ITV: “The Euros, The Jungle and now Soccer Aid for UNICEF – it’s the holy trinity. I’ve won two of them, so just need Soccer Aid now to complete ‘The Treble’!”
Soccer Aid 2023 returns to Old Trafford once again on Sunday, 11 June, with crowds of around 74,000 expected to pile into the stadium. It will be broadcast on ITV and kick-off is set for 7:30pm.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
7th March 2023 
