England Women’s and Manchester United keeper Mary Earps has won the Lionesses Player of the Year award following her incredible showing at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The Lionesses‘ heroic number one, who produced one of the most unforgettable moments in British sport with her penalty save in the World Cup final this past August, has been magnificent throughout the season and so it was little surprise the supporters voted her the winner of this year’s award.
With a Golden Glove in the World Cup to her name already, not to mention a FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award earlier this year for her efforts in the previous season and the Lionesses’ magnificent Euros win, she’s had a 12 months full of accolades.
Defenders Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood came in second and third, respectively, and team captain Millie Bright had the honour of surprising her with this one.
Representing her country 16 times in the last year, the 30-year-old shot-stopper has been a brick wall at the back for Sarina Wiegman’s side more often than not, even managing to keep three clean sheets at the World Cup — no small feat.
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As Bright said when handing her the award, “I could not be prouder to present this to you. You deserve it more than anyone. Honestly, you’ve carried the cart, pulled out some unbelievable saves when we’ve needed you the most and that, for me, is what the ultimate teammate does and the ultimate pro [does]”.
Aside from her performances on the pitch as well, Earps became an emblem for fans of the women’s game and equality in sport, in general, with the whole country rallying behind her following the Nike goalkeeper kit controversy.
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After refusing to sell the shirts of female goalies throughout the tournament, the Man United keeper called the company out for essentially telling little girls who dreamed up growing up to be footballers that the position doesn’t matter as much as others. Following a huge uproar in the UK and beyond, they finally caved and saw sense.
Capped 41 times in total, Earps is named in the Lionesses’ Nations League squad as they prepare to take on Scotland this Friday before a trip to Utrecht to play the Netherlands on Tuesday, 26 September.
Whilst we’re here, we’ll take any excuse to relive this moment that will forever be embedded in the nation’s memory.
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 -
20th September 2023 
