Reigning netball champions Manchester Thunder are returning to the AO Arena once again this spring and are hoping to smash a league record in the process.
The best part is, you can help them break it by simply grabbing a ticket.
The high-flying Northern side are enjoying yet another impressive season, currently sitting second in the Netball Super League with a game in hand on Surrey Storm at the top of the table.
However, as well as hoping to retain their NSL title and win their fifth trophy in just over a decade, the Thunder are also looking to earn themselves a league record in their upcoming game against local rivals Leeds Rhinos at the AO and it’s looking very doable.
Heading back to the AO Arena for the first in over a year since their last meeting at the legendary Manc venue back in March 2022, the fixture promises to be “bigger and better than ever”.
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After besting the Rhinos (52–67) over at Leeds Beckett earlier this month, Manchester Thunder are now looking to surpass the blockbuster scenes from last year’s arena match, where more than 4,000 fans turned up to see them take on the league’s newest team, with a target of at 5,960 attendees now set.
Dubbed the ‘Battle of the Roses’, the Lancashire lot’s aim is to not only beat their Yorkshire counterparts once again but to beat the official NSL record for the most supporters at a home netball game, which currently stands at 5,959.
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Netball Manchester Live 2023 is already one of Manchester’s biggest annual sporting events but with this milestone now up for grabs, it’s set to be a big afternoon whether you’re a netball fan, a fan of sport in general or just want to play your small part of history.
The sport as a whole is riding quite the high in recent years, with a record crowd of nearly 9,000 fans piling into Birmingham’s Utilita Arena for the season opener back in 2020, where all 10 teams compete in a massive day of netball action.
Cementing themselves as one of the best teams in the NSL, Manchester Thunder are hoping to keep pushing that momentum further and, who knows, with the AO Arena capacity at around 21,000, they could even go on to break international records in the 10,000s.
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With over 2,000 tickets already sold, Manchester’s premier netball team are on track to reach a record attendance, but every friend, family member and netball-lover you convince to come along helps them move a step closer to achieving this amazing feat.
Tickets for Manchester Thunder vs Leeds Rhinos Netball at the AO Arena on 7 May are on sale now. You can grab yours HERE and we hope to see you there!
A pair of Paralympians born just down the road and honed two discipline-leading national performance centres here in Manchester have officially been awarded MBEs.
The Northerners doing the country proud – sounds about right.
First off, if the name Poppy Maskill doesn’t ring a bell, the promising Paralympic was Team GB’s best-performing para-athlete at Paris 2024 this past summer, contributing a total of five medals towards the nation’s joint-third-highest tally.
After her heroics at the Games, the teenager who turns 20 this weekend (Saturday, 29 March) was the recipient of an early and very prestigious birthday present, becoming one of the youngest individuals to be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in history.
She was named on the New Year’s Honours list back in December but finally collected her latest medal in person this week following a ceremony at Windsor Castle, being honoured by King Charles III personally.
Hailing from Middlewich just less than an hour away from our city centre, Maskill might be a Cheshire girl by birth, but this young sporting gem is being polished right here at the state-of-the-art Manchester Aquatics Centre (MAC).
The youngster became the first Paralympian to pick up gold back in August after not only winning the 100m butterfly but smashing the world record in the process, too.
Competing in the S14 class – a category for athletes with intellectual impairments – she finished the heat with in just 1:03, surpassing the previous best by more than half a minute. But her impressive performance didn’t stop there.
MAC regular Maskill went on to win two more golds in the S14 100m backstroke and 4 x100m S14 freestyle relay, as well as a pair of silver medals in the 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley S14. Just incredible.
Poppy Maskill wasn’t the only Greater Manchester-based para-athlete who was recognised this month, though, as Stockport‘s very own two-time Paralympic champion Sophie Unwin was also presented with the accolade for her services to sport.
Named a member of the Order along with her co-pilot Jenny Holl, Unwin’s Paris 2024 medal haul included a double of golds in the women’s B 3000m individual pursuit and the road race tandem B, not to mention a silver in the road time trial and a bronze in the 1000m time trial at Paris 2024.
Following in the footsteps of fellow MBE and Stopfordian cycling legend, Dame Sarah Storey, who won her 19th gold medal to become Britain’s greatest Paralympian of all time – having made the most of MAC and the National Cycling Centre over in East Manchester during her career – the borough did us proud.
30-year-old Unwin has kicked on just as strong in the new year as well, notching a narrow victory to set an unofficial (unfortunately) world record of 4:36.737 in the women’s tandem at the 2025 Lloyds National Track Championships here in Manchester.
Ex-footballer Joey Barton has officially been found guilty of assaulting his wife following his two-day trial in the capital this week.
Barton, who played for Manchester City, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers and a number of other clubs, was convicted at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 25 March, following an incident back in June 2021.
The former midfielder left his wife, 37-year-old Georgia Barton (McNeil), with a bleeding nose and a bruise on her forehead following a drunken row at their home in London.
Barton is said to have grabbed and pushed her to the floor before kicking her in the head. Married in 2019, the two have four children and are thought to still be together.
The 42-year-old was still employed in professional football as the manager of Bristol Rovers at the time, but he was ultimately sacked in October 2023.
His wife called 999 at the time, telling police that he had hit her, but later retracted her statement.
Born in Huyton, Merseyside, the chief magistrate Paul Goldspring recognised that the one-time England has a history of violence.
He was given a 12-week suspended prison sentence, meaning he won’t serve time unless he commits another offence and has been ordered to pay £2,138.
Since dropping out of mainstream football, in particular, Barton has come under heavy criticism for allegations of racism, sexism and controversial right-wing politics; he even started an ‘anti-woke’ podcast called Common Sense with Joey Barton.
Back in June of last year, he was ordered to pay £35,000 in damages to settle a libel claim with presenter Jeremy Vine after a series of inflammatory comments made online.
The Radio 2 presenter sued Mr Barton earlier this year, after the former footballer wrote a series of posts suggesting Mr Vine had a sexual interest in children.
He also accused of threatening fellow former pro, Eni Aluko, after a torrent of abuse regarding her punditry online – the ex-England international even went so far as to say she no longer felt safe staying in the country.
Danny Jones -
21st March 2023 
