Manchester United sat down for a special interview with fan favourite, Lisandro Martínez, to discuss how he went from being a bricklayer to a professional footballer and world champion.
The centre-back has become a cult hero among the United faithful with his immense work rate and battling spirit, having shored up the defence and cemented himself as a real leader in the dressing room after just a few months.
If there’s one thing we love here in Manchester it’s a grafter and Martínez is very much the epitome of that in Erik ten Hag‘s squad and, as it turns out, he’s done more than his fair share of proper labour on his way to becoming a professional footballer.
Speaking to club media, the 25-year-old was asked about his humble beginnings growing up in Gualeguay and how he came to end up working as a bricklayer from a relatively young age.
From Gualeguay to Manchester, via Amsterdam 🇦🇷➡️🏴
🛣 Take a trip down memory lane with @LisandrMartinez, as he shares how his upbringing shaped the person he is today…#MUFC
Going along to construction sites with his dad, the Argentinian detailed how he had a couple of opportunities to move away and play when he was very young, but the connection with his family and wanting to help them during tough times meant that it did feel right for him to leave.
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Martínez says that after being confronted by his parents about not going to play football and “make something of [himself]”, he was going to work and treat it with the same dedication he showed when it came to kicking a ball about.
As a result, he then went off to work as a bricklayer at “about 13. Very young”, arriving at seven every morning to help his dad.
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After oversleeping one day and turning up late, Martínez says he still remembers his dad’s face “like it was yesterday”, at which point he told a young Licha: “Don’t you realise this isn’t for you? You need to have a career in football — football is your thing”. The rest, as they say, is history.
So, yes: once upon a time — long before he was playing week in, week out for Man United and lifting the World Cup with his national team — Lisandro Martínez used to be a bricklayer and probably the youngest one we ever heard of. He’s come so far in the 12 years since.
Like most other young footy-obsessed kids, Licha described never being far from a ball, saying that if he and his friends didn’t have one they’d make their own “out of paper or cloth” and would even make their own football pitches by “cut[ting] down bits of trees” and make goalposts out of the branches.
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That jumpers-for-goalposts mentality really is universal, isn’t it?
He might be playing in front of proper nets and lacing up a different set of work boots these days, but it’s clear ‘The Butcher’ still has that same level of graft.
Featured Image — Manchester United/Lisandro Martínez (via Instagram)
Sport
Manchester Storm’s ‘own and loan’ scheme returns for 2026/27
Danny Jones
Manchester Storm have relaunched their much-loved ‘own and loan’ programme once again ahead of the 2026/27 season.
Having gone from a cult favourite option for die-hards to an increasingly popular choice among their growing number of supporters, it’s a great way for fans to get their hands on what could go on to be priceless collectables.
Set up over a decade and a half ago, the initiative has gone on to be replicated by multiple clubs in the Elite Ice Hockey League, across the country, and indeed beyond.
For anyone unclear on what exactly this scheme means for them, here’s all you need to know.
The own and loan sponsorship is essentially an opportunity not only to support the club and your favourite player, but to essentially reserve a valuable piece of match-worn memorabilia.
Put simply, fans can buy a squad member’s jersey and then loan it back to them for the season.
The shirt – be it home, away, created for cup tournaments or a special limited-edition sweater (of which MCR Storm have designed many over the years) – will then be worn throughout the course of the campaign before being given back to the owner, i.e. you.
Not just simply buying the shirt, but helping back the team’s talent, it’s one of the most direct ways people can contribute to the club.
The Greater Manchester side pioneered the push for this initiative here in the UK in the early 2010s, and with the local side now set to return to the AO Arena, where their journey began way back in 1995, you can expect plenty to mark the comeback with a special sponsored jersey.
Anyone who purchases an away strip will have their name featured throughout home games for the duration of the season – not a bad gift or way to secure a potential future collectors’ item.
You can see every player available to sponsor and find out all the information you need right HERE.
For regular matchgoers at the ‘Storm Shelter’, we’re sure it’ll be bittersweet to say goodbye to Planet Ice Altrincham, but just how excited are you about heading home to the AO Arena later this year?
Featured Images — Manchester Storm (publicity picture)/The Manc Group
Sport
League One set for an all-Greater Manchester playoff final as Bolton book trip to Wembley
Danny Jones
It’s official: we’re all set for a fully Greater Manchester League One playoff final as Bolton Wanderers are the latest to secure a return to Wembley against Stockport County.
The resurgent old Lancashire club clinched their spot in the knockout conclusion of the third division with a single strike in the second leg of the semis, and it wasn’t a bad finish, either.
Beating Bradford City 2-0 on aggregate, Bolton will now play familiar regional rivals Stockport, with Wanderers set to clash with County in a decisive derby once again.
Bolton‘s instinctive volley from Chelsea youth product and former Hull City man, Xavier Simons, resulted in some very satisfying limbs at Valley Parade.
The home fans did have plenty to cheer on the night, with efforts from Metcalfe, Power and Wright all either hitting the woodwork or being deflected just past it.
They thought they were level in the tie at one point after Kayden Jackson put the ball in the back of the net, but it was ultimately ruled out.
Agonising stuff for the Bradford supporters to burst into bedlam before the flag was raised for offside.
Many supporters will argue that the key moment came somewhat against the run of play, but The Trotters won’t care one bit as they book another trip down to the capital.
You can watch the rest of the highlights, including those scenes in the away end, down below.
Speaking even before the game, head coach Steven Schumacher told Sky Sports: “It’s a club we believe is bigger than this division, but this division is not easy to get out of.
“The expectation and the demand to get to the Championship is there, and once you’re in the building and you feel the mood when you win games, when you lose games, you can sense that this is a club that is desperate to get out and get to the next level.
“When you look at the size of both Bolton and Bradford and how well they are supported, both clubs are probably too big to be in League One. But that’s where both clubs find themselves, and one of us has got to find our way out of it if we can.”
You’d dare say he can practically smell promotion via the playoffs now; the local side has come quite a way since the lows of administration in 2019 and the bottom tier of the EFL – not without some heartbreaks in previous playoff finals – but could he be the one to get them back where they belong?
In case you missed the action from the other game, you can see more HERE, and to hear Schumacher’s thoughts after the decisive result, look no further…
Danny Jones -
10th February 2023 
