Now we’re in 2021, many of us will look back at the previous year in sport and feel appreciation that it’s all over.
Empty stadia, cancelled events and a general sense of disarray led to an uneven sporting calendar.
When events did go ahead, it wasn’t a great year for Manchester teams and athletes either. More often than not there is a trophy parade for teams like Manchester City or United, but 2020 yielded very little.
Nonetheless, there were reasons to be cheerful, with Greater Manchester’s teams and athletes providing some wonderful moments and achievements. Here are five of the best below:
Fury is King of the World
The first bout between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder ended in a controversial draw, where many believed Fury was robbed of victory by the judges. The Gypsy King left no room for doubt in the rematch, however, pummelling the WBC Champion at the MGM Grand, Nevada.
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It was one of the best heavyweight performances of the 21st century, and it has left us all tantalised at the prospect of an all-British title unification bout between Fury and Anthony Joshua in 2021.
But this was Fury’s night, and he showed the boxing world that he is arguably the best heavyweight on the planet.
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Rashford is the Pride of Britain
Not exactly a sporting moment, but a great one nonetheless.
You’ll know the story by now: Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford campaigned that the government overturn its policy of not providing free school meals during the holiday period.
Rashford fought tooth and nail to make the government see sense, eventually getting Downing Street to reverse its policy and provide a multi-million-pound package of support for children in need.
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Regardless if you were from the “blue half of Manchester” or a Liverpool fan, it didn’t matter – football was united in its acclaim for the young hero from Wythenshawe.
But when they fall short of perfection, as they have done in 2020, it always seems to be magnified.
Nevertheless, there was some sense of the old Man City on occasion in 2020, including a huge win at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League.
But perfection was reached when routing newly-crowned Premier League champions Liverpool 4-0 in July. The match felt like a coming-of-age moment for Stockport-born Phil Foden who pulled the string alongside Kevin De Bruyne.
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Jimmy Races to 600 wickets
Jimmy Anderson might be a Burnley lad, and the town is rightly proud of their cricketing hero. But the fast-bowler has plied his trade at Old Trafford Cricket Ground for almost two decades, so he’s also claimed by Greater Manchester too.
Anderson continued to break all kinds of records in 2020, notably becoming the first fast-bowler to reach 600 Test wickets.
Unfortunately, there were no fans in attendance when Anderson reached the milestone in August against Pakistan, but there were still scenes of jubilation.
Manchester United Women went into the New Year as leaders of the FA Women’s Super League – and are among the favourites for the title this season.
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It’s an incredible achievement given that the team didn’t exist a few years ago.
There has been fierce criticism that United did not create a women’s team until now, but the women have quickly made up for the lost time.
It’s not certain that they will finish the season with a first WSL title, but they have been close to perfect so far.
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The Premier League and EFL should follow La Liga’s lead and bring Retro Matchdays to the UK
Danny Jones
Following the news that La Liga is set to debut a new ‘Retro Matchday’ round, we can’t help but ask the question: why didn’t the Premier League and EFL think of this first?
Well, technically, neither did the Spaniards, but you take our point.
Anyone who follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or even the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) equivalent here in the UK and mainland Europe, will know that the concept is nothing new – but by and large, it seems to be for the beautiful game.
In case you missed it, in an effort to further capitalise on the increasing trend of vintage and classic football kit fashion/the wider nostalgia culture that only seems to be growing every year, Spain’s top two tiers will soon host their inaugural Retro Matchday gameweek next month, and we want a piece of it.
Set to be hosted from Friday, 10 April, over the usual weekend of football in their premier and second division, and running until the final lot of fixtures on Monday, 13 April (no, thankfully not an April Fool’s), supporters will get to see players step out onto the pitch in some of the country’s most iconic kits.
Depending on who you ask, some would argue that Spain has some of the nicest footy shirts all time, whether that be the national side or clubs themselves.
To be honest, we definitely have a soft spot for a proper European throwback – we’re thinking Borussia Dortmund’s 1995/96 home kit, the Napoli kits of the 80s, that amazing Toyota-sponsored Fila Fiorentina kit at the turn of the millennium – and even some of the best 2000s ones now look so old-school.
In fact, we actually had a taster of these kinds of special matches in the past, including here in 0161 for the likes of the Manchester Derby.
Reminds me of the Manchester derby in 2008 where they played in retro kits due to it coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Looked absolutely brilliant. pic.twitter.com/TLRjKHThbG
When you also take into account that, besides collectors already creating a whole new craze in filling their cupboards with classic kits, the likes of Nike, Adidas and more now regularly turning to old designs like the ‘Futura’, Total 90′ and various ‘adi Originals’ revivals of late, it’s more the rage than ever.
Birmingham’s recent ‘penguin’ remake, Port Vale’s traditional 150th anniversary one, based on their 1953-54 season jersey, not to mention countless other lifestyle fashion collections inspired by historic releases, you can’t move for the stuff – so why not get them wearing it on the grass?
As mentioned, the likes of local ice hockey outfit Manchester Storm have been taking a leaf out of the NHL’s book for ages now, with the annual ‘Retro Nights’ proving to be some of the most popular dates on the calendar, even selling off original shirts in the stadium itself before, during and after the match.
We genuinely can’t think of a single football lover following a team at any level in the English football pyramid that wouldn’t LOVE this. In fact, plenty of them already go to the ground wearing their dad’s second-hand away strip, which has turned out to be a modern cult favourite among the next generation.
These are the kinds of ideas we can see fans actually getting behind; you can find out more HERE. Would you like to see a retro Premier League and/or EFL match day featuring your favourite kits from down the years?
Liam Broady is on the comeback – here’s why you need to watch out for him at Wimbledon
The Manc
Local tennis player Liam Broady is quietly rising back up the ranks on the ITF Tour, and here’s why we think you should watch out for him come Wimbledon 2026 this summer.
He is physical proof that the ATP Tour ranking means so much to a player’s career.
The Stockport-born tennis player has suffered many injury setbacks since turning pro in 2014. With a host of ankle and back injuries plaguing his playing career, he has had to turn to the ITF (International Tennis Federation) Tour to climb the rankings once again.
He is currently placed at 283* on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour after reaching two semi-finals in the space of a month.
With wins on two of Portugal’s hard courts in Faro and Santo António, the 32-year-old has climbed from rank 303 at the start of the year to under the threshold in less than three months.
His hard work on outdoor courts is paying off as his seeding is slowly improving, and his opponents are becoming less of a challenge.
For the unititated, the ATP ranking is decided by a points system that determines your playing level, and therefore who you can possibly draw, with lower seeds getting tougher games as they need more points, and vice versa.
These point tallies factor into every win, loss, serve, and shot as it propels you up or down the table.
With an injury over Christmas, the Stopfordian Team GB player came back stronger for the start of the annual tournament calendar and now looks to be in fighting form on the ITF Tour.
He’s definitely had to tackle some obstacles over the years, both on and off the court…
Competing solely on outdoor hard courts to gain his fitness levels back is necessary, but the grass courts – his speciality – will come around with time and consistent form, with Wimbledon being his home tournament and his highlight of the competitive calendar.
His career best ranking was 93, after becoming the first British wildcard entry to beat an ATP top five player in 2023 when defeating Casper Rudd on Wimbledon’s centre court.
His win against the Norwegian in round two sent him into the top 100 rankings for the first time, and into the shining spotlight alongside British tennis stars.
The adverse effects of time away from the tour are clear to see with Broady’s peaks and dips in the table below; this means taking a hit to player motivation, game-to-game momentum and teamworking within doubles pairs.
Liam Broady’s career rankings progression chart. (Credit: ATP Tour)
It is a likely situation for players to neglect their doubles career without the added stress of injury, so if they are to arise, it does not just impact individual physicality levels but also communication between doubles pairs.
A fellow British player with similar injury problems is Emma Raducanu, who rose to fame with a shocking US Open grand slam win as a qualifier. Since her win, she has had multiple surgeries, which saw her plummet down WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) standings due to time spent off court.
The issues that come with injury upsets can make a career really difficult to reclaim, even at a young age; tour rankings can be brutal on game time and match opponents, such as Broady’s Wimbledon draw against Holland’s Van De Zandschulp and Raducanu’s recent draw against American no.3 Anisimova.
We hope to see Team GB’s athletes fit and ready to fight on tour, and we have a strong feeling we’ll see native talent Broady back in the spotlight where he belongs.
The Manc -
18th January 2021 
