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.
“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.
Manchester City said to no a pretty significant player swap with Liverpool last year
Danny Jones
Manchester City reportedly rejected a transfer proposal involving swapping one of their youngest and most exciting stars with close rivals Liverpool in 2024
This could have proved to be an interesting one…
Man City aren’t exactly short on forwards at the moment and have brought in plenty of attacking options over the past year, and with Erling Haaland breaking all manner of records up front for them, they didn’t find it too hard to sell on another promising young striker in Julián Álvarez for a club record sale.
However, as per recent claims made by a Telegraph Sport journalist, there was a possibility of Álvarez swapping the blue of City for the red of Liverpool.
🚨🚨| In summer 2024, when Liverpool realised Luis Díaz wanted to join Man City, their recruitment team proposed the Colombian to the Etihad Stadium in exchange for Julián Alvarez. Man City said: “We don’t sell to rivals." Liverpool said: “Neither do we then."
That’s according to football writer Chris Bascombe, anyway, who recently wrote that the two Premier League sides could have engaged in a player swap deal were the division’s then Treble-winners willing to negotiate with the only other team that has really contested the title with them in recent years.
As you can see, Bascombe states that Luis Díaz wanted a switch to the Etihad Stadium even before the current English champions shuffled their front three.
This has been backed up by The Times’ Paul Joyce as well, who says that the Colombian winger was ultimately “unsettled” by interest from City and others
Díaz (who recently signed for Bayern Munich) made it clear he wanted to play under Pep Guardiola, and it seems there was at least some willingness from the Merseyside outfit.
Provided they get an increasingly wantaway Julián Álvarez in return.
With Haaland having been brought in and making himself comfortably the go-to number nine for what could very well be the next decade, they clearly saw an opportunity to offer him an alternative, but Man City simply said, “We don’t sell to rivals.”
Ultimately, the now 25-year-old World Cup winner went to Europe, joining Atletico Madrid for a whopping £81.5m.
Regardless, it seems hard to imagine not only two top-flight English teams doing a deal like this but to picture what it would have been like to see Álvarez, who was still very highly thought of among a large section of supporters, being cheered on by the fans inside Anfield.
The Argentinian striker – though he has been utilised in a variety of positions at the top end of the pitch – has well and truly shone in La Liga, and now looks like he could be set to swap Madrid for Barcelona.
Álvarez has apparently made it clear to those closest to him that he wants Barca, and despite the summer window closing, the Catalan giants could pursue a deal to sign him next year when his contract expires, or indeed, even go after him this January.
Meanwhile, after bringing in plenty of new talent over the past few months, with Manchester City now effectively being given the green light to proceed with a major commercial sponsorship deal, you could very well see yet more big money being spent in seasons to come.
Harry Kane tears up as he honours England’s first Muslim player
Danny Jones
Three Lions skipper Harry Kane teared up as he honoured Djed Spence with an emotional speech on his England debut, becoming the first Muslim player ever to represent the senior national team.
Another historic night for sport in this country.
In case you didn’t tune in, the result against Serbia was a thrilling 5-0 victory, which saw Thomas Tuchel’s side maintain their unbeaten run, with a five-star performance serving as the perfect way to mark five wins from as many fixtures.
But, again, the headline story of the night was Djed Spence celebrating his faith in the best way possible – not to mention England captain Harry Kane paying sincere tribute to the history-making 25-year-old:
Pretty much everything you see of Harry Kane points towards him being a genuinely sound bloke. He could have just passed that cap over to Djed Spence with empty platitudes but you can tell he really cares.
As you can see, sharing some heartfelt and inspirational words as a former Lilywhite himself, ‘King’ Kane – who was first given the armband back in 2018 ahead of the Euros – spoke highly of the Tottenham Hotspur star following his inaugural national team cap.
Confessing that he himself felt emotional speaking on behalf of Spence, the 32-year-old striker recalled first seeing the wing-back arrive at Spurs just a few short years ago before his eventual departure for Bayern Munich in 2023.
He also shared, “I know what it takes to get here”, and saw what it took on his end to make those same steps forward in his career and ultimately break into the England squad, adding, “credit to you and your family – you deserve this, mate.”
As for the former Nottingham Forest defender himself, writing on social media, Spence said: “Today is arguably the greatest and proudest day of my life. Honoured to make my England debut.
“A day I’ve dreamt of all my life and now has become a reality. GOD IS THE GREATEST! #GODSPEED“
While there have been many individuals from the Islamic faith throughout the footballing pyramid and, indeed, the FA‘s national team youth ranks over the years, Djed Spence becoming the first senior capped Muslim player in our country’s history is nothing short of an incredible milestone.
Speaking to the media after the game, which also saw Harry Kane surpass Sir Bobby Moore as England’s fifth-most capped player of all-time (now on 109), the London-born athlete admitted: “I was surprised because I didn’t know I was the first, so it’s a blessing.
“It’s good to make history and hopefully inspire young kids around the world that they can make it as well. They can do what I am doing.”
Here’s hoping he can fly the flag for British Muslims throughout domestic football and help generate further impact on the sporting world beyond that.
Danny Jones -
22nd July 2024 
