Manchester Laces founder Helen Hardy has been honoured in a giant mural painted on the steps of Wembley Stadium in London.
Championing both women’s and non-binary football since the organisation was created back in 2021, Helen Hardy has been at the forefront of inclusivity in Mancunian and British sport, in general, reminding everyone that football is game for everyone.
To celebrate her incredible contribution, the National Lottery’s Good Causes scheme unveiled the massive piece of art stretching across the legendary Wembley steps.
England Women‘s captain Leah Williamson even turned up to show her support.
Channelling the pride flag’s rainbow palette, the mural is realised in vibrant technicolour — as are the LGBTQIA+ inclusive club’s already iconic kits.
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Expressing her gratitude on social media, Hardy said, “It’s been an absolute honour to have my face painted on the steps of Wembley. I can’t quite believe it!” She also went on to thank the artist, Charlotte Archer (pictured right), who captured her likeness.
In a relatively short space of time, Manchester Laces has going from strength to strength, setting up their own division (the Alternative Foootball League) and even expanded into London, with three different clubs located in the capital.
Their work in providing everyone a place to play across Greater Manchester and further afield has already been recognised by the likes of the National Football Museum and many more.
The first of its kind in the UK, this wonderful group of people is only getting bigger.
Speaking in an interview with The Independent following the reveal, Euro 2020-winning footballer Williamson said that Helen and Manchester Laces are “normalising what should already be normalised”.
“That’s why I love this campaign… because it’s someone who doesn’t even see themselves as a leader, Helen, deciding to pave the way and something she believes should be available and a space that she believes should be available for people to be able to positively impact the world a little bit.”
The 25-year-old also went on to say of the women’s national team: “I wouldn’t want anyone to feel like it wasn’t their game. We wanted to show that supporting England is an open invitation to be exactly who you want to be, because that’s what we do too.”
Meanwhile, rather disappointingly, the England and Wales mens teams reneged on wearing the One Love armband at the 2022 World Cup under threat of punishment from Qatar.
The Lioness and Arsenal defender concluded by saying that while she’ll “support England until the day [she dies]”, people have been left “alienated in terms of the LGBTQ+ community” and believes that this year’s tournament is fundamentally “wrong”.
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We can only echo her statement and reiterate our support for women’s and non-binary football, as well as wonderful institutions like Manchester Laces.
Featured Image — Helen Hardy/National Lottery Good Causes (via Twitter)
Sport
Salford RLFC finally confirm new head and assistant coaches
Danny Jones
Salford RLFC have finally announced their new head and assistant coach picks as the new rugby league season fast approaches.
The Salfordian phoenix club had already confirmed they’d reached provisional pre-contract agreements with a new boss and several players following the news of the consortium bid that kept the sporting institution alive, but now they officially have a new leadership team to get behind.
Following Salford Red Devils’ resurrection by the aforementioned investment group – though it still remains unclear whether this will eventually include a full rebranding – familiar face Mike Grady and his assistant Dave Hewitt are now in place.
They replace ex-boss Paul Rowley, now at St Helens, and his assistant, Kurt Haggerty, who both left in October and September of last year, respectively.
Sharing the news in an official statement on their new Instagram account amid a major overhaul of their online presence, the local side wrote: “We are proud to announce Mike as the new Head Coach of Salford RLFC, joined by Dave Hewitt as Assistant Coach.
“Mike brings over 12 years of coaching experience across club and international rugby, most recently leading the Salford Women’s team and previously coaching at Widnes.
“His appointment marks another big step forward in our rebuild, combining experience, passion and a deep understanding of what Salford rugby league stands for: hard work, resilience and exciting rugby.
“Joining him, Dave Hewitt, former St Helens and England Academy player, will focus on developing our attacking play and nurturing new talent.”
Hewitt also played for Oldham RLFC across three spells, as well as Rochdale Hornets.
As for the board, they sign off by adding: “Together, Mike and Dave represent the energy and belief driving this new era for Salford RLFC.”
With several ‘key announcements’ soon to be made, we can expect a better idea of what the new and hopefully improved Salford will look like in time for their opener against the Roughyeds in the Championship on Friday, 16 January.
It is worth noting that the club have yet to reveal any actual squad signings.
As for co-owner Caton-Brown, who knows all about the club and the community from his several years playing in the area, we have the pleasure of chatting with him first-hand about the vision for their future.
As a result, Pep Guardiola and co. have decided to cut the 20-year-old’s loan spell at Championship outfit Watford FC short to bolster their ranks along the backline.
The Italian journalist gave the reports the ‘Here We Go!’ seal of approval on Monday, 5 January, following confirmation of Gvardiol‘s ankle problem.
“Man City act fast as Josko Gvardiol will now be out for several weeks with injury”, he writes, “and so Max Alleyne returns.”
Himself a bit of a utility player, having also been deployed in defensive midfield on occasion, the Bristol-born youth academy product could prove a useful option in various positions across the pitch.
While Guardiola admitted that the versatile Croatian star’s issue “doesn’t look good” – this being the same ankle he had surgery on back in November 2025 – it remains to be seen how serious his Portuguese teammate’s muscle concern is.
Romano continues: “Alleyne has been doing great at Watford on loan… City informed the London club this morning, even if they’re very happy [with] how they managed Max over recent months. Club-to-club good relationship, City wanted Alleyne in their squad ASAP, and Watford let Max leave today.”
The England prospect has represented his country in every age group from the under-17s to Lee Carsley’s U21 side, and has certainly impressed on the national stage.
Danny Jones -
24th November 2022 
