Sport

Manchester Laces’ Helen Hardy honoured with massive mural painted on the Wembley steps

The pride of Manchester has been recognised outside English football's most iconic stadium.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 24th November 2022

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.

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.

We can only applaud the pair of them.

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.”

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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”.

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.

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

Featured Image — Helen Hardy/National Lottery Good Causes (via Twitter)

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

Featured Images — Ben Whitehurst (supplied via X)

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