Sport

Stockport school sees under 15s girls football team crowned national champions

Make that Treble-winning* champions.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 17th July 2025

A local Stockport secondary has welcomed home their under-15s girls’ football team as national champions after winning the English Schools’ FA Cup.

Marple Hall School (MHS), located in the south-east part of the old Cheshire borough, is a high-performing educational institution known for its strong investment in youth sport.

Boasting a large sports hall, dedicated 3G footy pitches, MUGA (Multi-Use Games Area), gymnasium, netball and tennis courts, as well as other grass surfaces, many of the town’s nearby clubs make use of the facilities throughout the year.

However, it’s their homegrown talent that is having the spotlight rightfully shone on them this week, as a side of junior female footballers won the prestigious FA tournament for sporting youngsters.

The squad of Year 10 girls – consisting of Marple Hall players aged 14-15 – faced off against Kings Langley last week in the decisive fixture away at Sixways Stadium, home of Worcester City FC and the Worcester Warriors rugby union side.

Following their landmark victory this month, this most recent title has seen them crowned Stockport, Manchester and now National champions, thanks to their 2-1 win in the Development Cup Finals.

Writing in a proud and lengthy post on the school’s website, headteacher Joe Barker described the campaign as “a remarkable run for a remarkable team” and a “thoroughly deserved” trophy, despite coming up against a “really strong team” travelling from the Hertfordshire village.

Barker went on to add: “Team MHS were supported so well by the travelling family and friends, and of course by the 44 students who made their presence known in the stands. Outnumbered but certainly not outvoiced, the chants from team MHS were non-stop and so supportive.

“Not only that, but the whole school got behind the team with the tie live-streamed into every classroom and our halls over lunch.

“My colleagues tell me that they have never felt an atmosphere like it at MHS, the whole school site reverberating to the cheers when the teams came out, when Penny scored her two amazing goals, and at the final whistle.”

He even cited an anecdote of one young pupil telling fellow teacher Miss Gregory: “This is a really mint day for our school, isn’t it, miss? I’m really glad I come here!” He was responding to the moment the aforementioned Stopfordian star, Penny Hallos, scored an audacious backheel to make it a brace.

Unsurprisingly, she earned the player of the match award for her game-winning efforts.

To make things even sweeter, the incredible achievement was also recognised in the House of Commons, with Hazel Grove MP Lisa Smart motioning to toast their success among her fellow peers.

Celebrating not just the English championship but their Treble-winning year, Smart declared: “The whole of the town is incredibly proud of these girls for their achievements. 

“My recent hundredth speech in Parliament was on ensuring that girls and young women were given the opportunities to participate in sport, and it is fantastic to be able to celebrate these young women who are doing just that.

“It’s great to be able to help celebrate their national success at Parliament, and I look forward to them achieving wonderful things going forward.”

Better still, nearly £1,500 was raised on top of the fund collected in order to help get the girls to the ground on matchday, and all that money is going directly towards further sports provision for the girls and young women’s sport, specifically.

You can watch the game in full down below, but we’ve highlighted that ingenious second strike from Hallos for you (rewind to around 41:45 to see her equaliser).

Congrats again to the SK, Greater Mancunian and now National champions – we hope we go on to see plenty of your names up in lights soon enough.

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Featured Images — Marple Hall/English Schools’ Football Association/Stockport County (via X)

Sport

Bury FC clap back at Oasis after Noel Gallagher’s dig at Heaton Park reunion show

Danny Jones Danny Jones Bury FC respond to Noel Gallagher's 'shit' comments

Bury FC have clapped back at Oasis after Noel Gallagher aimed a sly little dig at the Greater Manchester side during their reunion show this week.

The Burnage boys returned to Heaton Park for round three of their five-night run, where roughly another 80,000 descended on the massive outdoor space for their latest homecoming gig.

While the energy back in 0161 has been unreal for every date thus far, with the Gallagher brothers seemingly getting just as much of a buzz from the reception as Mancs and out-of-towners alike, ‘r Noel did dish out a bit of sarcasm when he was welcomed into the spotlight on Wednesday evening.

In case you didn’t see the now-viral clip, here’s what he had to say…

The Gallaghers are never ones to shy away from a bit of cheek, but Noel definitely has the reputation for being the drier of the two wits.

Not that making a joke about the nearest team being Bury, to what was most likely a sea of Manchester City and/or United fans (purely based on the law of averages), is particularly witty.

Regardless, we were glad to see not only Shakers fans but the club itself give the local but now London-based music legend a bit back.

Responding in a social media comeback of their own, the North West Counties League (NWCL) outfit noted that while they couldn’t share the original clip – not that it stopped supporters, mind you – they did go on to share an old clip of their 1997/98 side beating Noel’s beloved Manchester City.

The decisive finish was headed home by one of their very own “dyed in the wool” Blues, too: Paul Butler, who scored the only goal of the Championship fixture to beat City in their own barn back at Maine Road.

Suppose you’d call that a shush of sorts.

More importantly, the NWCL club used the opportunity to capitalise on the old adage of ‘no press is bad press’, writing in the caption: “Here’s our ticket link if you wanna roll with it and watch the champions in action.”

At the end of the day, it did get people talking – not a bad result for the non-league team.

Now, less than a month until the Premier Division champions get underway in the 25/26 campaign, we can wholeheartedly recommend going along to Gigg Lane to see what moves the Shakers are making.

For starters, they’re heading into the new term with a big-brand partnership already under their belt.

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Featured Images — Screenshot/The Mighty Shakers Podcast (via X)

Sport

Kolo Touré joins Manchester City’s backroom staff on a permanent basis

Danny Jones Danny Jones Kolo Toure joins Man City coaching staff permanently

Former Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool defender, Kolo Touré, has now permanently re-joined the club as a first-team coach.

The retired centre-back, who finished his career at Scottish giants Celtic FC before hanging up his boots back in 2017 and becoming part of their backroom staff, has been working with Man City as part of the FIFA Club World Cup set-up.

Having clearly impressed on the road, not to mention having spent last season as Assistant Lead Coach alongside U18s boss Oliver Reiss – with the youth side winning the Premier League North title – the 44-year-old has now been given an assistant coaching job with the senior squad on a full-time basis.

Announced on Tuesday, 15 July, ahead of City’s pre-season tour getting underway next month, Kolo Touré is the latest among multiple recent appointments to manager Pep Guardiola’s ranks.

Hailing from the Ivory Coast and having enjoyed a career spanning more than 15 years, he’s considered one of the greatest African players of all time, so it’s no question that he brings a wealth of experience and leadership to the role.

Touré, who made more than a century of appearances for the Blues, began his coaching journey with the national team before assisting Brendan Rodgers at both Celtic and Leicester City.

He also spent a rather short spell at another Greater Manchester side, being made head coach of Wigan Athletic in November 2022.

But it wasn’t to be…

The older brother of fellow City club legend, Yaya, was ultimately sacked around two months later (just 59 days, to be exact) after having failed to win a single fixture in his first name games in charge.

Commenting on Toure’s appointment as first-team assistant coach, Director of Football Hugo Viana said in an official club statement: “We’re delighted to permanently add Kolo to our first team coaching staff.

“Not only does he bring his immensely precious experience at football’s elite level, but he also has a deep connection with Manchester City and a deep knowledge of the Club.

“We’ve also been hugely impressed with his work and success with our Under-18s, and by adding him to our senior staff permanently, this will only strengthen the transition for players in our Academy into the first team.

“As we already saw throughout his time with Pep Guardiola, Pep Lijnders and James French this summer, his massive personality of optimism and positivity is hugely infectious and we’re already looking forward to his work moving forward.”

In case you were unfamiliar with the latter two names, you’ll find all you need to know down below.

Pep Guardiola’s new coaches and why Manchester City fans should care

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Featured Images — Alfonso Jimenez/Stuart Grout (via Flickr)/Manchester City (via website)

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