Sport

Manchester Futsal have qualified for the Champions League for the first time ever

With Manchester as one of this year's host cities, they're hoping to draw big crowds and help grow the sport even further.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 22nd July 2024

Following a year where our region dominated the domestic football scene once again, it should not be overlooked that Manchester Futsal Club (MFC) also quietly qualified for the Champions League for the first time ever.

Long misunderstood as mainly a feeder sport for footballing talent, futsal as its own discipline has come on leaps and bounds over the past decade or so, with over 60 million people now playing worldwide.

Greater Manchester boasted not only being home to the 23/24 Premier League champions, FA Cup and Women’s FA Cup winners in Manchester City and Man United, as well as League Two Champions Stockport County, but also another treble-winning team in their own right.

Being crowned National Futsal League champions alongside winning the League Cup and the Grand Final last month, MFC rightly earned Club of the Year by the FA and will now be competing in the European competition for the first time in their 18-year history. Nothing short of huge.

Better still, with Manchester helping host this year’s tournament from their home ground at the National Cycling Centre not too far from the Etihad Campus, they’re hoping to draw in bigger crowds than ever.

With the Group D preliminary rounds set to take place between 22-25 August, Manchester Futsal Club are set to take on Tigers Roermond (Dutch Champions), Istanbul Sisli SK (Turkish Champions) and FC Yerevan (Armenian Champions), who also hosted last year’s final.

Mallorca Palma Futsal won back-to-back UEFA Futsal Champions Leagues last season after winning the title on debut in 2022/23 when they also served as hosts.

Here’s hoping for similar good fortune when we welcome the other three European clubs next month.

Co-founder and CEO, Simon Wright, said of the team’s impressive progress thus far: “It’s been a pretty phenomenal season for the Senior Men’s team […] It’s been a direct outcome of years of hard work and persistence to deliver these fantastic achievements for the players and coaching staff.

Credit: Supplied

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“Qualification for the club into the UEFA Futsal Champions League is our reward now. We are now entering the elite competition for our sport so we’re incredibly proud to be representing English Futsal and the City of Manchester. It’s a big step but we’re ready to face that challenge head-on, we just have to focus on the preparation now and be ready to go come 22nd August.”

With Manchester Football Club capable of hosting 3,500 fans over at Sportcity, the run of games which kicks off on Thursday and runs until Sunday could see huge attendances pile into the arena over the course of the four days.

Futsal also happens to still be one of the most affordable ways to watch live sport in the region too, with individual tickets for Champions League fixtures starting from just a tenner for adults. Alternatively, a pass for the entire preliminary round will only set you back £25 for adults, £12.50 for students and a mere fiver for under 16s.

Tickets for Manchester Futsal Club’s Champions League fixtures are available now and you can grab yours HERE.

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

Featured Images — Manchester Futsal (supplied)

Sport

Manchester City staff member sacked after wearing Man United shirt to shift

Danny Jones Danny Jones Man City staff member sacked after wearing Man United shirt on the bar on derby day

Man City have divided a fair few supporters after they sacked a barman for wearing a United shirt to their shift during the Manchester derby.

Although it’s not exactly surprising, the decision has ruffled plenty of feathers on both sides, as well as among neutral fans.

The Blues emerged victorious in the 197th clash between the two local rivals, winning 3-0 on an evening that paid tribute to the late, great Ricky Hatton, but another backstory looming over the fixture that caught the attention of football fans online was the City staff member who lost his job.

Working on concessions inside the Etihad Stadium before the game, the barman was made known to the official MCFC Matchday Support channel on X, who quickly confirmed he had been let go before the game even began.

In the since-deleted post, the home fan who reported the worker wrote: “Absolute joke – letting one of the bar staff in block 315 wear a United shirt on Derby Day.”

Although many City fans applauded the fast action by the club on the day, it’s fair to say that sacking him so soon that he didn’t even last until kick-off has rubbed many others the wrong way.

One Liverpool fan commented: “I hate United way more than City, but to sack him from a job because of an item of clothing is crazy. So, so poor from Manchester City, this. It’s just football lads, he’s not wearing a political or derogatory symbol. It’s literally a football team…”

Another neutral added: “Getting a minimum wage worker sacked for having a bit of fun instead of just winding him up is the absolute sad state this country is in.”

Even the ‘Out Of Context Football Manager‘ parody account chipped in, writing: “The guy’s been sacked for this. All he needed was a formal warning. I get he’s taking the p*ss – but losing a salary he might really need over this?!

While many have been even more outspoken in their response, as you can see, many supporters – be they Red or otherwise – have come up with arguably the perfect solution:

Manchester City are yet to comment on the backlash, apart from the initial confirmation that the still-anonymous staff member has been released from his position, but as for Man United, simply sticking him on the kiosks in the Stretford End could prove to be a very easy bit of positive PR.

Besides the growing frustration around the fanbase, as Ruben Amorim has yet to turn things around at Old Trafford (pressure was growing even before the derby day defeat), the Red Devils could no doubt do with some positive press for a change.

In fact, it was only earlier this year that co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, CEO Omar Berrada and the wider INEOS Sports administration sanctioned a second round of redundancies at United, with approximately 450 individuals losing their jobs.

That being said, although some have labelled the sacking of the now ex-City barman as “absolutely horrendous behaviour” for Man City, many jumped to quip back that “[United are] more likely to sack more bar staff, not hire them”, as well as simultaneously taking aim at their significant transfer spending.

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Featured Images — Mataniels via X (now deleted)/The Manc Group

Sport

Salford Red Devils supporters group outline plans for the next major protest march

Danny Jones Danny Jones

Salford Red Devils supporters trust, The 1873, have outlined details of their next major march in protest over the club’s well-publicised ownership troubles and financial crisis.

The fan group, which has mobilised on multiple occasions already this year, is set to hit the streets once again this month and in larger numbers than ever, confirming another big demonstration before their next home game this weekend.

Sharing the update with fellow Red Devils on social media, 1837 leaders are demanding “truth and accountability from the top” ahead of the peaceful protest through Salford.

They have dubbed the event ‘The Last Rally’, but we can only assume there’ll be more fan action as the weeks and possibly months of uncertainty continue.

As you can see, The 1837 are calling for like-minded supporters to rally outside another nearby amateur rugby league football team, Salford City Roosters, before marching on to a second meeting point and, ultimately, the Salford Community Stadium.

Starting in Eccles, with a stop at Barley Farm, before arriving at their club’s home ground in Barton-upon-Irwell, the plan is to gather as much awareness, support and local attention as possible.

Writing in the caption of the above post, they added: “We’ve dominated headlines. We’ve exposed bad ownership. We’ve stood together.

“A history worth fighting for. A future worth protecting. Our last chance to be heard. Don’t stay silent. Make it count.”

Following a recent meeting of the RFL and the two Greater Manchester Mayors, Andy Burnham and Paul Dennett, Salford Red Devils were given somewhat of an even further stay of execution, as it was confirmed that their ‘winding up’/administration deadline has now been adjourned until October.

Nevertheless, the majority of fans are still being kept in the dark about the exact and up-to-date nature of their rugby league club’s situation at present.

Back in June, it looked like new investors could very well still be injecting vital funds to keep key players and staff on the books, but jump to now, and it looks like they don’t know if even things like the big screen even belong to them much longer.

Once again, the march and peaceful protest will take place this Friday, 19 September, prior to the next fixture against Wakefield Trinity.

Getting points on the board will no doubt be a big plus for all, but the game looks like it will very much serve as the backdrop to the wider ongoing saga.

Are you a Red Devils fan, and if so, will you be attending the demonstration? Better still, even if not, what do you make of the circumstances surrounding your side at the moment?

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Featured Images — Ben Whitehurst (supplied via X)

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