Manchester United have finally addressed yet another in-house drama with one of their wingers, issuing a statement updating fans on the ongoing situation with Jadon Sancho.
The club seem to be regularly releasing statements regarding the conduct of their players at the moment, with the Mason Greenwood scandal not long behind them and, more recently, Antony being removed from the squad amidst his ongoing assault allegations.
Now, though, it seems as though the frustrated forward Jadon Sancho will also be joining his teammate in spending some time away from the first-team and the club’s normal training sessions after they confirmed that he will once again be put on a “personal programme” away from Carrington.
This comes after Sancho took issue with manager Erik ten Hag dropping him against Arsenal and claiming that he wasn’t selected based on his performance in training.
Writing a short update on Thursday, 14 September, the club said: “Jadon Sancho will remain on a personal training programme away from the first-team group, pending resolution of a squad discipline issue.” This means ten Hag’s squad will be even more depleted ahead of the Premier League resuming.
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With the 23-year-old publicly dismissing the Dutchman’s claims and even going so far as to suggest he has been used as a “scapegoat for a long time”, the United boss was evidently disappointed by the decision to discuss this on social media.
It isn’t the first time he has made sure to punish players for breaking codes of conduct and overall behaviour, having similarly decided to drop Cristiano Ronaldo and back the board’s decision to sack him late last year.
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It also isn’t the first time Sancho has been told to train separately either, though the first time around seemed to be more fitness and confidence-related, as far as we know:
Following the backlash to the backlash, essentially, a number of reports surrounding Sancho’s behaviour and overall demeanour around the club then began to appear in the media, with several citing him as a “complicated character” who often flits from “loud and extroverted” to “very reserved”.
Both the club and the fans will simply be hoping for some normality to resume after what seems like an eternity of scandals and club statements for one reason or another.
The Red Devils get back underway at Old Trafford on Saturday, 16 September against Brighton.
Featured Image — Jadon Sancho/Man United (via Instagram)
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Both Manchester United and Manchester City named as teams with the least amount of local fans
Emily Sergeant
Both Manchester United and Manchester City have been identified as being teams with the least amount of local fans, according to a new survey.
We all know that supporting a local team can be seen as a mark of credibility among a certain kind of football fan, while on the flip side of that, not following a local team is often associated with being a ‘glory hunter’. But which Premier League clubs have the highest – and lowest – proportion of supporters living close to home?
Well, YouGov decided to use its profiles data to analyse the fanbases of all 20 Premier League clubs for the 2026-27 season to get the answer to this once and for all.
And it’s fair to say that it’s not looking the best for the Manchester teams.
The study found that, overall, Brighton & Hove Albion is the Premier League’s most local team – with 56% of fans based in the South East.
Sunderland (50%) and Nottingham Forest (49%) supporters are the next-most likely to live in the same region as their teams, followed by Aston Villa, Brentford, Ipswich, Leeds, Fulham, Hull, and Crystal Palace fans rounding out the top 10.
At the other end of the table, Manchester United has the second-lowest proportion of local supporters, with only a quarter based in the North West (23%), with one in six (17%) actually living in London instead.
And then as for Manchester City – who are widely considered to be the most successful team of the modern era – it has ranked fourth-bottom for local fans, as a quarter of the club’s supporters are based in the North West, with a fifth based in London (19%).
But although both United and City have found themselves towards the bottom end of the ranking, they are not the worst offenders.
That title, unfortunately, does belong to another North West team though – Liverpool.
Liverpool is the club with the lowest proportion of ‘local’ supporters, as just a fifth are based in the North West (21%) with the next highest concentration of fans can being found in London.
Featured Image – Johnny Gios (via Unsplash)
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Manchester Storm game postponed just one week after AO Arena return due to ‘technical issue with the ice’
Daisy Jackson
Manchester Storm’s second game back at the AO Arena had to be postponed over the weekend due to a ‘technical issue with the ice’.
The ice hockey team made a record-breaking return to the venue earlier this month, attracting some 11,000 fans to watch their match against Sheffield Steelers.
But just one week later, as Manchester Storm prepared to face off against The Nottingham Panthers, the game had to be postponed.
Fans were already inside the legendary venue when a ‘technical issue with the ice’ became apparent and the game was called off.
Manchester Storm and the AO Arena said they ‘sincerely apologise’ to supporters and ticket holders for the disruption.
The game has now been rescheduled to Wednesday 14 October, with tickets valid for the new fixture.
The full statement read: “Unfortunately today’s Manchester Storm game vs The Nottingham Panthers has been suspended due to a technical issue with the ice.
“We sincerely apologise to supporters and ticket holders for the disruption and would like to thank everyone in attendance for their patience.
Danny Jones -
14th September 2023 
