Ex-Manchester United star Patrice Evra has issued a passionate appeal to his old club ahead of the Europa League final, as he reluctantly prepares to miss the game.
Evra, 44, has remained an avid Man United fan even since he left the club back in 2014 and doesn’t miss a game if he can, often lending his punditry services to the likes of Sky Sports of TNT Sports.
However, despite the biggest game of their season coming up this Wednesday, 20 May, the Frenchman has been forced to skip the match due to a recent bereavement.
Nevertheless, Evra has taken time to issue a rallying cry to Ruben Amorim and his Red Devils, urging them to “be United” and “fight” just like his loved one.
As explained in the short video, the retired left-back’s sister recently passed away at just 56 after a long battle with cancer.
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Visibly emotional but determined in the clip, Evra starts by sharing his “positive energy” before trying to inject some defiance.
Noting that his sibling fought for her life for more than two decades, he goes on to add, “That’s what I want from you [United players and fans] tomorrow: just fight — bleed for this shirt, for the fans, the staff, for the people of Manchester.”
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Stating that there is “no excuse” for failure and that winning their first European trophy in seven years is their “duty”, he called on the team to channel the commitment and dedication of those travelling from all over the world to see them take on Spurs in Bilbao.
As for the former French international himself, he will be making his return to sport only in an entirely different arena, with a combat sports debut coming very soon.
Wait until you see who he called out… To be fair, I think we’d prefer to watch the Evra fight even more than the Europa League final.
While the comments underneath the post are obviously filled with lots of condolences for his loss, lots of supporters are also taking further faith and motivation from his competitive spirit.
It’s a big game for the club and so many across Greater Manchester; you only have to glance at social media to sense the palpable tension. For instance, if you’re a Red, you don’t want to scroll past the video down below.
Go on then – do you think United are going to do it?
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)
Sport
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 May 2025 
