The padel craze is slowly taking over the country and Europe at large and with Manchester now home to multiple clubs, we’re now preparing to host our first-ever pro-am tournament too.
Unveiled just last month, the new Pure Padel location over in Cheetham Hill is just the second site opened by the growing sporting brand which started out at nearby Alderley Park in Macclesfield and is now set to take the city centre by storm.
Debuting as the sport’s only indoor facility in Manchester, it’s already set itself apart from the equally popular competition and is about to create an even bigger buzz by welcoming the official Pro Am Padel Tour to the region for the very first time – plus some familiar faces.
With the likes of sports personalities such as John Terry, Danni Wyatt, Theo Walcott; Bobby Zamora, Jos Buttler, Mark Noble and Carly Telford, as well as celebrities Jeff Brazier, Spencer Matthews, Kem Cetonay and many more having played in the past, the word is getting out about the competition.
Pro-am tournaments take place all over the world in other spheres such as golf, snooker and tennis, pitting professionals from within the discipline against amateurs – and, in this case, both current and former athletes from different sports – against each other in a series of exhibition matches.
Think celebrity boxing match or a charity football game, only you can actually pick up a trophy at the end of this one.
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Put simply, the Pro Am Padel Tour pairs Britain’s top padel professionals with high-profile guests from the worlds of sport and entertainment for a thrilling, round-robin tournament.
Having launched back in April 2023, the competition is still in its infancy but has already seen some big names and their upcoming Manchester event is expecting even more.
Confirmed celebrities this time around include Olympic swimmer Matt Richards, retired Lioness and Manchester City legend Jill Scott; former England footballer and pundit Joleon Lescott, as well as Man United alumni Phil Jones and Katie Zelem.
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Where the first and only pro-am padel tournament in Manchester will be taking place this year. (Credit: Pure Padel via Instagram)
More sports personalities and celebrity guests are expected to be confirmed soon but even now, there are plenty of names we’d like to see with a racquet in their hands and see just how good they are at the fast-paced court sport.
Scheduled to start at 11am on Wednesday, 20 November, the 2024 Pro Am Tour Manchester edition will be an all-day event and while it is an exclusive event, you can keep an eye on their socials for content from the matches.
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 -
6th November 2024 
