After fleeing Kyiv to land a fittingly named vintage football shirt store here in Manchester, Stunner has now sadly confirmed that they have closed their city-centre site.
Sweethearts Polins Vynohradova and Serge Shcherbyna formed Stunner back in 2017, eventually opening their Manchester site in February 2022 following the breakout of the Ukraine War.
The Stunner brand ignited their passion for film photography, football and 90s aesthetics, by providing hundreds of authentic football kits from the era and into the 2000s, creating a hub of creativity and culture. They’ve been a great addition to our sport-loving city.
But don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom; this isn’t goodbye forever and the couple is staying positive, insisting that they’re excited about “getting back on the road”, and we can assure you that their incredible journey isn’t ending here.
Credit: Instagram/The Manc Group
In a statement via Instagram, the Stunner duo said: “First of all, don’t panic, we’re only closing the physical store. You can still place your orders online and we’ll ship them to you worldwide.
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“The original idea of [the] Stunner store in Manchester was always to have it for one year, regardless of how it goes, and we’re glad that we managed to pull it off.”
So yes, Manchester natives can breathe a sigh of relief. Stunner confirmed the continuation of the online store that provides worldwide shipping, even hinting towards the re-opening of a new store elsewhere.
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Their story is a truly fascinating one; a couple dozen shirts and an Instagram page ended up expanding into Kyiv’s largest flea market before a journey across Europe to eventually land right here in rainy Manchester.
Explaining the hardships behind running Stunner between and what led to the closing of their store on Friday, 23 August, the pair went on to add: “Running a football store when there’s just the two of you means that other things have to be put aside.
“Though it’s lots of fun and the best way to meet like-minded people, it’s also time-consuming and very demanding. We knew that it would mean sacrificing football travels and now the time has come for Stunner to get back on the road.
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“We want to take you to more football grounds and cities around the world, and who knows, maybe one of them will be a perfect fit for the third Stunner store.” As big fans of these guys, we can only hope they come back stronger in the second half.
From escaping the grasp of a devastating conflict in Ukraine to closing their store later this week, the couple ended their beautiful statement by saying: “Come have a beer with us this Friday, August 23rd and grab a bargain on our final day at 9 South King Street.”
The disappointed but hopeful announcement on socials was only met with equally heartwarming reactions in turn, with customers showing a lot of love for Stunner.
One commenter wrote, “Super happy to have visited this space. Excited to see what you have to share coming up”, while another said: “So excited to see what’s next for you guys & so grateful to have met you through the store.”
We’re so relieved that this won’t be last we’ll hear from the folks over at Stunner, even if their flagship Manchester city centre shop and first-ever brick-and-mortar space has closed.
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We have every faith they’ll be back bigger and better than ever and, in the meantime, you can still order from their incredible online catalogue HERE. до скорої зустрічі.
The hearing over Manchester City’s 115 FFP charges will officially start next week
Danny Jones
After more than a year of speculation as to when proceedings will finally start, it has been confirmed that the hearing regarding Manchester City and their 115 FFP charges is set to begin next week.
Man City were first slapped with the laundry list of alleged breaches of FFP (financial fair play) and failure to comply with Premier League rules on profit and sustainability (PSR) back in February 2023, but little movement on the case has been reported since then.
In that time, they also won the coveted Treble and their record-breaking fourth league title in a row; meanwhile, the club have continued to deny all claims of rule-breaking.
However, it has now been revealed that City‘s hearing will now kick off on Monday, 16 September.
BREAKING: The hearing over Manchester City's 115 charges will start on Monday 🚨 pic.twitter.com/9ujOCryVMF
As explained in various reports, given the extended nature of the claims made against the Manchester side, it is estimated that the case could run on for up to two months if not longer.
Furthermore, it is thought a decision isn’t expected to arrive until spring 2025 – again, this is simply due to the number of charges brought up over the best part of a decade.
In case you need a refresher, the allegations levelled at Man City date back to 2009 and concern a supposed nine years of financial irregularities, as well as subverting UEFA FFP rules.
Some of the accusations made against them also include failing to cooperate with the European football body and the Premier League, as well as offering ‘secret contracts’ so as to pay one particular manager a larger sum than what they recorded in their financial statements.
The final verdict, whenever it is reached, will be handed down by an independent commission and City will still be able to make an official appeal.
It goes without saying that were they to be found guilty, it would be the biggest financial scandal in English football history and could be seismic for the future of money in the sport and regulations surrounding ownership, which have already grown tighter following the charges being issued.
And in case you needed a more detailed refresher on what exactly they are being tried for and what the possibilities are regarding punishment if found guilty, here’s a quick rundown:
Featured Images — Arne Müseler (via Wikimedia Commons)
Sport
Billy Harris’ sensational Davis Cup debut helps secure GB’s opening win in Manchester
Danny Jones
Great Britain grabbed their first win in the opening game of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals group stage this week with a hard-fought day against Finland which featured a truly stunning debut from would-be dark horse Billy Harris.
‘The World Cup of Tennis’ returned to Manchester’s AO Arena on Tuesday for the next stage of the tournament, with Britain getting their Finals group games underway this past Wednesday and starting as they mean to go on.
It may have been too early to throw in Jack Draper – who despite being one of their most promising squad members is still pretty raw from his draining semi-final defeat in the US Open last week – but, thankfully, experienced Dan Evans got the ball rolling and it became a case of building on the advantage.
That being said, you could tell from the early points of Evans’ opener against world no. 703 Eero Vasa that it was going to be a long day for the home team, as the sets felt drawn out right from the off.
Birmingham’s finest was taken to a tense tie-break in the first set of the day but, tough as always, he weathered the early test and emerged with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over the Finnish underdog who looked to be playing well above form.
Evans’ stamina and resilience were a big factor in their dominant display in the qualifiers last September too, but energy levels can only take you so far and after a tiring first match, Finland piled on the pressure in the doubles fixture where he and partner Neal Skupski just couldn’t quite survive two tie-break sets.
The 34-year-old duo were truly put to the test but, fortunately, the game was already a bit of a dead rubber, as the real star of the show came in the form of surprising debutant Billy Harris from Nottingham, who impressed everyone with his emphatic performance against in the other singles fixture beforehand.
Harris only earned his first ATP Tour win last year and is admittedly a bit of a latecomer to the party, but his journey is an inspiring one: working hard over the last 12 months and simply continuing to push so as to now earn his stripes with a Wimbledon debut earlier this year as well.
At 29, he’s at a crucial point in his prime years as an athlete, so it was important that he did his utmost to leave his mark on the GB squad at his first Davis Cup, and he tackled that objective head-on.
Notching a comprehensive 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win against Otto Virtanen – who is no slouch in this particular tournament – team captain Leon Smith said of the showing: “I’m thrilled for Billy – I think that’s one of the best debuts you’ll have seen. It was that good.”
Even on an early afternoon mid-working week, the second day of this year’s Davis Cup managed to attract nearly 6,500 fans to the AO Arena (roughly 90% capacity), which just goes to show how much of an appetite there is for the sport here in Manchester.
The opening rounds of the competition’s return to the city after a whopping three decades late last year saw its biggest overall attendance ever in this country and it’s clear Great Britain look very at home playing here.
Our boys take on Argentina in the next round this Friday, 13 September, where hopefully the likes of Draper can come back into the fold and give the likes of Evan, who has struggled with fitness of late, a much-needed bit of rest where possible.
Even without the likes of the now-retired Andy Murray, an injured Cam Norrie and Stockport’s Liam Broady, GB still look to be one of the teams in with a really strong chance of going all the way. Is The World Cup of Tennis ‘coming home’ and just how big a maiden tournament is Billy Harris going to have?
Blake Keeble -
21st August 2024 
