Following their amazing title win and promotion to the North West Counties Premier League this past weekend, Wythenshawe Amateurs FC have announced that Greater Manchester’s Night Time Economy Adviser Sacha Lord is set to become the club’s new Chair.
The Ammies secured the NWCFL First Division South Title on Saturday, 15th April, with a 4-0 win over Foley Meir, earning automatic promotion to the NWC Premier Division League.
As part of the celebrations of the club moving onwards and upwards, it was confirmed that Lord — co-founder of Parklife and now the world’s favourite nightclub, The Warehouse Project — is soon to replace Carl Barratt when he steps down to vice-chair in the coming weeks.
Having been born in Wythenshawe and remained a long-time supporter of grass-roots football, the Night Time Economy Adviser said when the chance to take over arose it was simply an opportunity he “couldn’t turn down, especially in such an exciting time for the club”.
GM Night-time Economy Adviser, Sacha Lord, to become new Chair of Wythenshawe Amateurs Football Club as it is promoted to the NW Counties Premier League
— Wythenshawe Football Club (@WythenshaweFC) April 20, 2023
Speaking following the announcement, Sacha said: “I have been aware of ‘The Ammies‘ for some years now after many friends watched the team during the COVID-19 pandemic from the hill in Hollyhedge Park when games were being held behind closed doors.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Over the last few months, I’ve attended quite a few games and when the opportunity arose to take over the reins this was something I couldn’t turn down, especially in such an exciting time for the club, following promotion.
“I am looking forward to helping to lead the next part of the journey at Wythenshawe. The Club has so much potential, along with the board, have plans to grow attendance and improve the overall experience for fans and visitors, making this a thriving ground with a hugely diverse fanbase.”
ADVERTISEMENT
As you’d expect, the scenes in the changing rooms after their emphatic promotion win were delightful and with Sacha’s WHP team providing hospitality as well as food and drink vouchers for Saturday’s game against Pilkington FC, it’s set to be a great atmosphere.
— Wythenshawe Football Club (@WythenshaweFC) April 15, 2023
Current Chair, Carl Barratt, said: “The board and I are incredibly excited to take the club forward with Sacha at the helm. We are proud of what we have achieved since opening our new home at Hollyhedge Park and are delighted that Sacha has identified the true potential of our community-owned club.”
“Sacha also will be joining us following the recent news that we have had approval by the FA, Lancashire County FA and all 14 leagues to remove the word ‘Amateurs’ from our name to reflect the progress the Club has made, and we will shortly commence rebranding across all our platforms.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Wythenshawe means the world to me, and I cannot stress enough my enthusiasm and support for Sacha and his plans. He has a superb track record of building destination venues with passionate and active communities and I know that we are in very capable hands when I hand over the baton in the coming weeks.”
As mentioned, Carl will remain as vice-chair and continue to head up the junior ranks as the club revels in “a solid moment in [its] history”, now playing at the highest level they’ve ever been at and continuing their legacy of never being relegated in the 77 years since it was founded.
Speaking of the club’s board and the Ammies’ heroics, in general, their 4-0 win felt like a fitting reward following their impressive charitable efforts over the weekend.
Spread over two days, current vice-chair Martin Howe and a number of other volunteers embarked on a massive 35-mile walk to raise money for The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, raising over £1,500 for cancer research and treatment.
Two Manchester Basketball players have been named in the SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26
Danny Jones
A pair of Manchester Basketball players have been named in the latest SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26.
The most recent UK Super League Basketball (SLB) campaign is set to wrap up this month, with the playoffs taking place down in the capital, but there are other awards to be handed out before then.
It remains to be seen how ‘The Final Four’ phase will play out at The O2 in London on 17 May, but we can definitely take joy in moments like this.
Announced on Thursday, 7 May, Manchester Basketball confirmed that duo Max Jones and Jordan Johnson have joined the rest of the league’s roster of the best players this term.
As detailed on the club website, “Max has averaged 17.4 points in the SLB in 32 games – he’s been a starter for the franchise and was also named in the ENBL All-Star Five in Germany last month.
“Jordan averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 assists in 30 games in the SLB, had a stellar European campaign and hit 30 pts in just over 27 minutes in the SLB Cup Final.”
Commenting on social media, one fan wrote: “Both JJ and PJ have been so great at the PG spot all year. I feel this is a joint award for them both, but they can only fill one spot for the accolade. If we wanna be a serious club to build upon year on year, JJ also needs to be in an MCR jersey next year.
“We absolutely have the pieces to build around. JJ’s nerve is sooooo cool under pressure. You can just tell they wanna loft a meaningful trophy, and it’s gonna happen if we as a club plan and build the way we need to.”
Plenty of supporters have also stressed the importance of making sure that the board tie down the likes of Jones and other big talents this summer; the rest of the Molten All-League Team of the Season for 2025/26 can be found below.
It’s also worth noting that teammate Tim Adetukasi and women’s team star Irene Oboavwoduo have each been named in the SLB’s British Team of the Year in their respective divisions for 2026.
Writing in a club statement reflecting on a great week of recognition for the resurgent club, General Manager Dominique Allen said: “We are really proud to be a club flying the flag for British players.
Both Tim and Irene have made a real impact on and off the court. We’re really happy for both of them that they are getting some well-deserved recognition.”
Well done to all the MCR stars who are helping get the franchise back on its feet following such a major rebrand across the board.
Here’s looking forward to another promising and productive year for Manchester Basketball.
Manchester City win first Women’s Super League title in a decade
Danny Jones
After a decade of hope and hard work, Manchester City have finally won the Women’s Super League once again in a huge moment for the local club.
Lifting not just their first division title in 10 years, but only their second WSL trophy since the modern female football era began in 2010, it felt like only a matter of time to many supporters.
Ending a six-year Chelsea supremacy, this is also manager Andrée Jeglertz’s first at the helm of Man City’s women’s team, who arrived at the club with a strong silverware record at the start of this season.
These were the scenes at home base as one key result sealed their status as champions:
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 6, 2026
City Women secured the WSL title following third-placed Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brighton on Wednesday evening.
They even managed to do so with a game to spare and a six-point gap over the west London club, which has won so much over the past few years.
Speaking in an interview with club media after confirmation of the win, captain and Euro 2025-winning Lionesses defender, Alex Greenwood, said: “[It feels] absolutely incredible. “A moment – we as a team, me personally – us as a club has waited so long for”.
“An incredible moment, it’s an incredible feeling. I’m so glad we got to spend this moment together as a group. Just an absolutely incredible feeling.”
With fans watching both at home, along with the first team themselves, the celebrations have already begun as the team shared a look back at how they got here.
You can see the recap posted on social media in full below.
Commenting on his latest accolade, the Swedish head coach added in a full club statement: “There’s never been doubt about the talent in the group, but there is something else about talking about being winners and champions. We started that early, and we believed in that. That’s led us through this year.
“It hasn’t been easy; it’s been hard work every day, but we had a strong belief that we could be sitting here in May and be champions. That is the first thing, and we definitely deserve it.”
Congratulations to the Cityzens on a well-deserved and long-awaited WSL title; could this be the start of another sporting dynasty of dominance over in East Manchester? Only time will tell…
In other news around the Etihad Campus, the women’s, EDS and academy team stadium is also set to host the final of the FA Youth Cup later this month.
Danny Jones -
20th April 2023 
