Noel Gallagher has claimed he was left “covered in blood” after being headbutted at the Manchester City game yesterday.
The former Oasis founding member and longtime Manchester City fan was in attendance at the Etihad Stadium as the sky blues came back from 2-0 down against Aston Villa to secure the victory and claim the title of 2021-22 Premier League champions yesterday – but after the winning goal went in the back of the net, things sound like they didn’t quite go Noel’s way during the celebrations.
Noel was in good spirits this morning as he told talkSPORT that he found himself needing “stitches in his top lip”, and actually walked away with “two black eyes” after being headbutted by who he claims was City centre back Ruben Dias’ dad.
He described the whole thing as “absolute bedlam”.
Relaying what happened after the match, Noel told talkSPORT: “Let me tell you what happened to me yesterday. As the third goal goes in, there is absolute bedlam in the stadium.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Where we sit, Ruben Dias’ family are a couple of boxes up. I’m jumping around like an idiot, passing my son around like the Premier League trophy, everyone’s lifting him up. I turn around, Ruben Dias’ dad runs straight into me, headbutts me, I’m on the floor, covered in blood.
Noel continued: “I’ve got stitches in my top lip, two black eyes. As I’m going down the corridor, Pep is running up crying and we hug each other. He says, ‘What’s up with your face?’ And I said, ‘Go and be with your players!’
“If you saw me today, I look like I’ve just arrived home from the eighties at Elland Road, I look like I’ve had my head smashed in. It’s unbelievable.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Lots of City fans are asking me what happened and I’m just saying, ‘You’ll never guess’.”
It sounds like Noel came off a lot worse as he also claimed that there’s “not a mark” on Ruben Dias’ dad following the incident, adding that he’s “a big bear of a man”.
“He almost knocked my teeth out,” Noel claimed.
Manchester City were crowned 2021-22 Premier League champions at the Etihad Stadium yesterday / Credit: Manchester City (via Twitter)
After what had been one of the closest title races of the past few years, Manchester City yesterday pipped North West rivals Liverpool to the post during an impressive comeback in their final match of the Premier League season to successfully retain their title as the winners of English football’s top flight.
The Citizens eventually made their dream a reality by beating Aston Villa 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium after first going 2-0 down.
Two goals came from İlkay Gündoğan, and one from Rodrigo, all in the second half.
The victory yesterday was Manchester City’s sixth Premier League title in total since returning to the top flight in 2002, and the fourth Premier League title in five years won under current manager, Pep Guardiola.
BBC cancel three hit shows, including legendary stand-up series, Live at the Apollo
Danny Jones
The BBC have reportedly cancelled three of their hit TV shows, including the long-standing Live at the Apollo.
With the company facing even more cuts and the television industry facing the ever-changing obstacles set about by increasingly dominant digital platforms, the hit live stand-up series, which has run for over two decades, is the latest big IP on the chopping block.
But that’s not all: joining them in cancellation after long stints on the box are Celebrity Mastermind and the most recently rebooted version of British favourite, Blankety Blank, brought back with Bradley Walsh as host back in 2020.
With roughly 65 full-length seasons between them, and literally hundreds of episodes under their belt, the unfortunate trio have fallen foul for varying reasons.
At first I read that as Celebrity Masterchef, but that show is immortal.
Really surprised to see Live at the Apollo go. It can't cost much and has been instrumental in giving many comedians their big TV breaks. https://t.co/BrT8k2hoYd
While Walsh announced that he was quitting the programme after three series (the fourth was set to begin recording later this year) largely due to scheduling conflicts, the driving force behind the decision is the aforementioned cutbacks.
In case you hadn’t heard, the BBC has seen an approximately £500 million reduction in annual spending, which has meant that one or more productions were always going to be hit hard as a result.
They are aiming to save upwards of £100m annually, which is set to come in the form of 100-150 hours less originally telly by the end of 2028.
Issuing an official statement, they say: “We are incredibly proud of all three of these much-loved shows and would like to thank everyone involved, both in front of and behind the camera, for bringing them to screen and making them such a success over many years.
“Unfortunately, we have to make some really tough choices in light of our funding challenges, and these savings have been identified from the entertainment genre.”
With Live at the Apollo, in particular, having served as an important proving ground and spotlighting stage for rising comics, the UK mainstay originally hosted by Jack Dee is sadly going the way of Mock the Week by being pulled after 22 years on the air.
As you can see, it’s already been heavily mourned by performers around the comedy circuit and fans alike. It goes without saying that those within the industry know all too well how important it’s been.
Unfortunately, more announcements and cuts are expected throughout the remainder of the year as the BBC‘s entertainment arm tries to regain profitability.
This means that these three likely won’t be the last to be axed; who knows? Given that even the biggest of IPs don’t seem to be safe, maybe even mainline Mastermind could be in trouble…
It’s also worth noting that this news comes not long after the media giants launched their big campaign to reassert their domestic significance and beyond, with more and more people straying away from the TV licence in favour of modern streaming.
You can read the full ‘savings’ update right HERE.
Co-op Live appears to tease major Mariah Carey Christmas gig sending fans into a frenzy
Emily Sergeant
All we want for Christmas… is Mariah Carey in Manchester.
And maybe, just maybe, our Christmas wish might come true very soon, as Co-op Live has taken to social media today to tease its next gig announcement with its hundreds of thousands of followers, and without jumping to conclusions, it does appear to be hinting at the queen of Christmas herself making an appearance.
Look, we know it’s only July and right in the middle of summer, but even if you think it’s too early to be talking about the festive season, you have to admit that the potential of Mariah Carey coming to Manchester is worth getting excited any time of the year.
The US pop powerhouse last performed in our city nearly a decade ago now when she brought her famous All I Want For Christmasshow to the UK for the first time ever, taking to sold-out Manchester Arena stage on 10 December 2017.
Mariah has not performed in Manchester since, but all that could be set to change as Co-op Live has hinted that an announcement is ‘coming soon’.
Taking to its official social media platforms today, Co-op Live posted a very festive-themed AI video of snow falling on the arena as the camera zoomed in and the instrumental of Mariah’s absolutely iconic hit ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ playing in the background, and the caption hinting at the song’s title too.
Of course, we could be wrong, it might not be Mariah at all, but if the 300+ comments from fans in a frenzy thinking the same as us are anything to go by, it’s looking like we might be right.
“The countdown to Christmas is on,” Co-op Live said in its video, before letting fans know that they would be getting some form of confirmation soon.
Emily Sergeant -
23rd May 2022 
