Sport

Manchester City win Club of the Year award at Ballon d’Or 2022 ceremony

City were shortlisted favourably in every category.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 19th October 2022

Manchester City picked up Club of the Year at the 2022 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony on Monday, 17 October, on a night that saw Pep Guardiola’s side showered with plenty of praise.

The Sky Blues beat the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid to the prestigious prize, who came in second and third respectively, but the high-flying Mancunian team received even further recognition on the evening.

City ended up receiving more nominations across the various categories than any other club, with Kevin de Bruyne coming third in the race for the 2022 Ballon d’Or trophy for the best player throughout the previous season.

Despite being beaten by Madrid’s Karim Benzema – who many felt had been long overdue for the honour – the Belgian became the club’s first player to ever be named among the top three players in the world.

Elsewhere, Ederson too came third in the race for the Yashin Trophy – the equivalent award for the best goalkeeper over the course of a season – but was ultimately beaten out by another Madrid player in Thibaut Courtois.

ADVERTISEMENT

Given both he and Benzema starred in Los Blancos’ 14th Champions League title, this came as little surprise to those watching on the night.

Nevertheless, seven players different City players were nominated across three categories for City, with Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo, Lucy Bronze, as well as the aforementioned Ederson and KdB all recognised. No club boasted more candidates.

ADVERTISEMENT

Bronze – a Euro 2020-winning Lioness who only recently left City for Barcelona – came 10th overall in the Ballon d’Or Feminin 2022, with her fellow England teammate Beth Mead coming in second to Barca’s Alexia Putellas – the only female footballer in history to win the award twice.

Plenty of media figures and fans alike have questioned why City won Club of the Year despite Madrid winning both their domestic La Liga title and the Champions League last season.

However, others have noted that not only did the Manchester team lift their eighth Premier League trophy, but Pep’s side also scored a whopping 150 goals across all competitions – more than any other side in Europe.

ADVERTISEMENT

Read more:

Do you agree with the selections or do you think someone else should have swept up the 2022 Ballon d’Or and Club of the Year awards this year?

You can see the full list of rankings here.

Featured Image — Man City

Sport

Co-op Live announce UFC 304 is coming to the brand-new arena for Manchester return this year

Danny Jones Danny Jones UFC 304 returns to Manchester

Co-op Live has announced one of the biggest nights yet and their first-ever sporting event after confirming that the UFC is coming to the new state-of-the-art arena.

While the shiny new music and live entertainment stadium suffered an unfortunate setback earlier this week, with both of Peter Kay’s gigs being postponed following power supply issues discovered during their test event, the confirmation of UFC 304 at Co-op Live is a big plus for the opening month.

Rumours had been circling that a huge sporting event might be coming to the UK’s newest indoor arena, one of the biggest of its kind in Europe, but this being just the fourth time the UFC has washed up on British shores, it’s a huge coup for their debut year.

Announced on Wednesday, 24 April, the global MMA phenomenon and multi-billion-dollar promotion company will be bringing their 304th fight night to Manchester on 27 July and you can roll your eyes at the pun all you like, but it’s going to be a knockout.

The UFC is coming back to Manchester for the first time in eight years.

As the UFC has said in an official press release, “UK MMA is currently experiencing what is being described as an unheralded golden era, with stars such as welterweight champion Leon Edwards, interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, and local favourites, including Paddy Pimblett, Molly McCann, Muhammad Mokaev, Michael Page and Arnold Allen, with more rising through the ranks.”

That being said, there isn’t a better moment for the brand to capitalise on the growing fight audience here in the UK and 0161, specifically, with the aforementioned Aspinall having created a real appetite for the discipline in and around the city.

The Greater Manchester region has always been home to iconic fighters regardless, be it boxing or otherwise; Ricky Hatton, Tyson Fury, Amir Khan, as well adopted Manc MMA legend Michael Bisping, whose pedigree helped bring UFC to Manchester and the AO Arena for the first time back in 2016.

Nearly a decade later the promotion is now part of Co-op Live’s maiden calendar and set to be the first of many sporting events they hope to host – a plan bolstered by their partnership with neighbours, Manchester City.

ufc returning to manchester july 2024
ufc co-op live
The UFC 304 fight card is yet to be announced but there are a few local names you can probably bank on. (Credit: The Manc Audio)

Read more:

“I’m so excited to get back to Manchester, and no better time than this summer,” said UFC President and CEO Dana White. “We have two champions from the UK and fans have been dying for a UFC PPV event. So here we come to the largest indoor arena in the UK. See you soon, England!”

As for Co-op Live, Executive Director and General Manager Gary Roden added: “With the north of England home to so many of the world’s leading fighters, we are primed and ready for UFC and its knowledgeable, passionate fanbase.

“Offering a state-of-the-art platform for globally broadcast events, Co-op Live is extremely proud to welcome entertainment of this scale and calibre as the future home of combat sports in the UK.”

Co-op members get early access to presale tickets at 10am on 5 June and general admission goes live via Ticketmaster at the same time on Friday, 7 June. UFC Fight Club members will also have the opportunity to purchase tickets early on the Wednesday from 9am BST.

You can also register your interest HERE to gain access to a special pre-sale which starts on Thursday, 6 June 6 from 10am as well. Roll on fight night!

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group/Supplied

Sport

Manchester United in talks with Disney over ‘multi-million-dollar documentaries’ deal

Danny Jones Danny Jones Manchester United talking to Disney Plus about documentary deal

Manchester United are said to be in talks with Disney over a potential deal to create a number of “multi-million-dollar documentaries”.

Just a week or so after the first trailer for their upcoming 99 series on Amazon Prime Video, which will follow their iconic treble-winning campaign – and only a couple weeks after Manchester City dropped their own over on Netflix – it looks like we’re getting more Manchester football media.

As per the report by The Athletic‘s Adam Crafton, the discussion between the footballing icons and entertainment giants centres around the proposal to make multiple documentaries about the club, with a specific focus on Sir Alex Ferguson and the legacy he left behind.

With Disney+ now the third biggest streaming service available, boasting more than 150 million subscribers according to the most recent estimates, and Man United still one of the most instantly recognisable brands on the planet, it goes without saying that the viewing figures would be huge.

Man United and Disney are reportedly exploring a collaboration for multiple documentaries.

The article goes on to detail how the prospective documentaries would also ideally involve “substantial interview time with Ferguson”, the now 82-year-old former manager and footballing legend who won a total of 38 trophies in 26 years as the Man United boss.

Disney would reportedly also be given access to the club’s wealth of archive footage along with key ambassadors and figures from their rich sporting heritage, including former captain Bryan Robson, goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel and more.

We’d be surprised if you didn’t see plenty of David Beckham, Gary Neville and other Class of ’92 members involved as well, sitting as arguably the most iconic and foremost serial winners in their history.

As the plans are still in their infancy, Ferguson and his former players would need to formally agree to be part of the documentaries and United would have their say over final edits.

Read more:

It is said that the current deal on the table is “in the low seven figures” and is actually lower than the terms originally offered to the club when the idea was first floated a couple of years ago.

There is still no indication as to how many projects could be in the pipeline or when we might see the first released if/when a deal is agreed upon.

As for out on the pitch itself, it’s been a turbulent season for the Red Devils, to say the least, but they have still managed to secure a place in the FA Cup final for the second year running following a game they made difficult for themselves against Coventry City.

Set to be just the second Manchester derby final in history, kick-off has once again been moved to an earlier start time to aid with travel issues and potential crowd problems.

FA Cup final confirmed for 3pm kick-off time as Metropolitan Police stress safety for fans

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Hquan2508 (Wikimedia)/Disney UK/minhquangle87 (Flickr)

More Sport

2024 FA Cup final kick off time confirmed for 3pm

News

FA Cup final confirmed for 3pm kick-off time as Metropolitan Police stress safety for fans

Manchester City new stadium expansion next phase

Manchester

Manchester City start work on next phase of stadium expansion, hotel, museum and more

City Centre

Football fan handed ban and hefty fines for ‘tragedy chanting’ during Man United v Liverpool match

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches