One of the hardest parts about getting organised for a major tournament is finding the right place to watch all the games. Planning is one thing but actually getting in somewhere is a battle in of itself.
We’ve been racking our brains over the best places in town to watch England at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and after being invited along to ‘Road to Victory’ on Tuesday, we might just have a winning candidate for you.
Road to Victory is the flagship event from fledgling entertainment company AIX Live (Amplified Immersive eXperience), who will be bringing the biggest fan zone anywhere in Europe to Depot Mayfield.
And when we say biggest, it really is massive. Try over 100,000 square feet.
It really is the biggest fan zone in Europe
With a capacity of over 6,000, Road to Victory (RtV) is set to bring the most immersive, multi-sensory football experience we have ever come across besides being in the stadium itself to hordes of England fans living in Manchester.
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Playing England games only (because it’s win or bust as far as they’re concerned), the immense space being used for the fan park will be familiar to those who have been to Warehouse Project before, though it’s never been quite like this.
Even walking in was quite the experience.
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Credit: The Manc
Stretching across three rooms promising crowds of between 1,500 and 2,500 each, the transformed venue promises music, light shows and, most importantly, giant screens on almost every wall to watch the games. You literally can’t miss it.
With everything from burgers and dirty fries to nachos, wings and more – catered by Manchester food brand Oh My Glaze – not to mention all the booze you’ll need to launch into the air when we score, you’ll have everything you could ask for in this unprecedented supporter space.
Credit: The Manc/Supplied
Those paying for seated tickets in the main room or purchasing one of 200 VIP tickets each game via donation can even pre-order food and drink more than an hour and a half before kick-off.
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An interactive audio-visual experience
But it’s just more than tables, chairs and a big telly – you can get that at pretty much any pub. What we were most blown away by were the production levels AIX have delivered for this event.
In addition to the sea of neon lights and huge speakers echoing around the room, our sneak preview included a glimpse at the stunning AV packages promised both before, during and after the game.
As well as visual team sheet presentations which will see the starting 11 read out by an announcer, there will be live match stats throughout the game, running ticker tape around the room and dynamic moments such as a 4D virtual heartbeat should Southgate‘s side win a penalty. Very, very cool.
Credit: The Manc
There’s also plenty of audience participation, not just in terms of cheering on the Three Lions but with quizzes, prize competitions, special guests, DJs and more.
There are even digital activities accessible via a simple QR code such as a virtual game of Pong, where thousands of audience members can play a giant multiplayer game against whoever England’s opponents are that day. They’re really trying to deliver an all-around fan experience.
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It goes beyond just a game
Perhaps the thing we were most impressed with was AIX’s collaboration with the sporting charity Football Beyond Borders (FBB), an organisation dedicated to improving the young people and local communities through the beautiful game.
Credit: The Manc/Football Beyond Borders
But this isn’t just a publicity partnership, RtV and AIX will be donating £500 for every goal England scores in the group games directly to FBB and, better still, a whopping £1,000 for every goal scored in the knockout stages — which will be getting to, thank you very much.
It’s this kind of dedication and confidence in the project and its sheer scale that we admire, as they’re just as convinced it’s coming home as we are. Moreover, they’re making sure that fans and football lovers across the country will benefit regardless of the end result come the final on 18 December.
Tickets for Road to Victory are going to fly
England’s first game against Iran kicks off at 1pm on 21 November but Road to Victory at Depot Mayfield will be open from 10:30am and won’t be kicking people out until the last drink is sunk, “or the license kicks in” — their words, not ours.
Credit: Supplied
In short, the Depot and AIX plan to put on after-parties when England wins each game, not if. This is strictly an over-18s fan zone designed for limbs, limbs and more limbs.
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Standing tickets for Road to Victory start at just £9.50 and seated packages from £15 (plus booking fees), with more information on drink and food pre-order packages set to be released soon.
You’ll be able to buy passes from the likes of Kaboodle, Ticketmaster and See Tickets, so make sure to keep an eye out on their socials for updates and you can find out more info at roadtovictory.co.uk.
But don’t lose all hope if you miss out, there is also Escape to Freight Island’s ‘Festival of Football’ just next door should tickets go wanting and you’re still in search of those fan park vibes.
Tickets go on sale at 10am this Friday, 14 October 14, 2022, so you best be quick if you wanna be there to watch the boys bring it home.
Featured Image — The Manc
Sport
Breakaway competition R360 issues statement after rubgy unions warn players of sanctions
Danny Jones
Prospective breakaway competition R360 have issued a response to the joint statement from multiple countries’ rugby unions, which has warned players of sanctions should they choose to join the new league.
While the vast majority seemingly remain opposed to the new concept, backing from certain key figures has resulted in the likes of the UK and Irish rugby unions, along with other key nations, sharing their unified stance against the potential rival.
Put in the simplest terms, the R360 model is rugby’s equivalent of what the proposed European ‘Super League’ was for football just a few years ago, with similar questions being raised around how it could jeopardise existing contests, player wellbeing and more.
Now, though, the new format – which has been largely backed and developed by former World Cup winner with England, Mike Tindall – delivered its own reply on Wednesday, 8 October.
Shared publicly to the press, the alternative tournament wrote: “It’s not always easy to embrace new opportunities, but as we’ve seen throughout history, it’s essential for any sport to grow. So many players love what R360 can do for them and the game, and we can’t wait to kick off next year.
“Player welfare is one of the key reasons for creating our global series, which will greatly reduce player load and capture the attention of a new generation of fans globally. We want to work collaboratively as part of the global rugby calendar.
“The series is designed with bespoke schedules for men’s and women’s teams and R360 will release all players for international matches, as written into their contracts. Our philosophy is clear – if players want to play for their country, they should have that opportunity. Why would the unions stand in their way?
“We look forward to submitting to the World Rugby Council for sanctioning next summer as planned.”
At present, R360 is due to hold its inagural season this time next year, with eight new male teams and four women’s sides expected to get underway from October 2026 onwards.
In addition to more lucrative contracts like those promised in the IPL (Indian Premier League) cricket, LIV Golf and the aforementioned albeit failed Super League, R360 is also set to offer a reduced playing schedule but one that would still tempt athletes away from their current teams to new franchises.
The national rugby unions of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, England, Scotland, France and Italy have released the following statement on the proposed R360 competition ⬇️#IrishRugby
Although they have assured player care is an utmost priority, their health and fitness is one of my concerns put forward by the total eight rubgy unions who have urged current pros to stay away from the breakaway competition.
In case you haven’t seen the statement release by England, Ireland and Scotland, as well as France, Italy, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, it begins by “urging extreme caution for players and support staff considering joining the proposed R360 competition.”
Assuring that they welcome “investment and innovation in rugby”, they feel this particular idea won’t improve the sport but could instead “fragment or weaken it.”
Having assessed the proposals supposed value/addition to the “rugby’s global ecosystem”, it seems the fear is that the outcome will be a “net negative to the game”, with little to no detail as to how it can run alongside existing fixtures, assure proper management of player welfare and more.
As for Wales, despite opting not to put their name to the open letter itself, they have stated publicly: “The Welsh Rugby Union supports this statement, and we’re considering changes we may need to make to qualification rules in Wales as part of ongoing analysis following our recent consultation process.”
The statement continues: “The R360 model, as outlined publicly, rather appears designed to generate profits and return them to a very small elite, potentially hollowing out the investment that national unions and existing leagues make in community rugby, player development, and participation pathways.”
It seems there is deep concern for how it could affect grassroots and the international rugby too, not just league and union, and have failed to full explain or help key organisations “better understand their business and operating model.”
Most notably, they sign off by adding: “Each of the national unions will therefore be advising men’s and women’s players that participation in R360 would make them ineligible for international selection.”
What do you make of the whole debate – do you like the current schedule/format as it is, or do you think there’s room for a new chapter in the rugby world?
Ruben Amorim insists he ‘cannot’ quit as Manchester United manager
Danny Jones
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has reiterated that he won’t quit his job at the club and that his departure will only come through being sacked.
The struggling head coach has notched the lowest tally of any permanent manager in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, and despite a much-needed win against Sunderland this past weekend – not to mention a much more positive performance overall – there are still growing calls of ‘Amorim Out’.
Amorim has registered just 34 points from the 33 Premier League games he’s been in charge of so far,
Nevertheless, as per quotes from The Guardian over the weekend, the Portuguese head coach assured that he will not be stepping away from the role and would have to be sacked for him to leave Man United.
Speaking to the outlet after the 2-0 home win this past Saturday, Amorim said: “No, that is a decision of the board – I cannot do that. Sometimes I have that feeling, and losing is hard, not to create the momentum.
“It’s so frustrating when you create the momentum, go to the next game, [and] something happens. That feeling sometimes hurts me a lot. Also, the players and especially the staff here. But that is not my decision, and I think it would be really hard to leave if I don’t do everything to follow my career here.”
The 40-year-old still has the support of many supporters, but it’s fair to say that many neutrals and even die-hards who would like to believe they have put their faith in this rebuild and the INEOS project up to now are growingly increasingly impatient and doubtful, with plenty of vocal detractors already.
Amorim continued, “It’s a dream to be here and I want to continue here, and I want to fight for this; but the problem is now what makes me suffer is to lose games, not to lose my job.”
He also added the caveat that, unlike those who were unfortunately laid off during the two rounds of redundancies over the past 12 months alone, “you fear [losing] your job when you have to pay the bills, and I don’t have that feeling.”
It’s also worth noting that this is by no means the first time he’s fielded questions of the matter of resignation, having previously worried fans with divisive comments about sometimes ‘hating’ his players and flitting between wanting to either quit or echo Fergie and stay at Old Trafford for decades.
"Sometimes I want to quit, sometimes I want to be here for 20 years."
Rúben Amorim defended his emotional response after Manchester United’s defeat to Grimsby Town but admitted he wants to improve how he reacts 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/nXuN0Ztoee
Despite the United administration assuring that he has their backing, every game feels like it could be make or break for Amorim at the moment.
Although he does have the respite of the October international break coming up, the first game back is against the reigning champions Liverpool away at Anfield – a team he is yet to beat.
In fact, you could also argue that this may only serve as disruption to any kind of momentum they may have generated with the victory over the Black Cats; only time will tell.
You can see his most recent post-match press conference in full down below.
Ok, Man United fans: Amorim won’t quit, but do you think he should be sacked, or does he deserve more time?
Danny Jones -
12th October 2022 
