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.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
20th September 2023 
