Last month, a terminally ill Manchester City fan was treated to a heartwarming gesture by the club as he got to fulfil his dream of seeing the Treble trophies in person, along with a few other surprises from his fellow Blues.
Lifelong Man City fan John Cretney was born and raised in Manchester and has never missed a game, be it live or on the telly, but earlier this year he was sadly told he only has around 12 months to live.
With that in mind, in true Blue fashion, one of the first questions John asked his doctor was if he’d be able to see out another season in full. It was at this point that his son David had the idea to write to City and see if there wasn’t some way they could say “thank you to him for being there, always”.
Naturally, the club didn’t hesitate to do their best for the 80-year-old and after learning that he had relocated to Australia — where last season’s historic trophies were on tour — they decided to take them out for the day and pop in to see John. His reaction when they arrived at his door says it all.
Surrounded by his family, John — once a very gifted footballer in his day — said, “I still don’t really believe it’s happening”, as the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League were carried into his home in New South Wales.
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But it wasn’t just the Treble trophies that were part of the visit, with the help of Australian TV station Stan Sport and presenter Mark Bosnich, they even threw in the UEFA Super Cup for good measure.
And the surprise didn’t stop there either, as you can see, the club also arranged for Man City and England centre-back John Stones to send him a special video message thanking him for his unwavering support over the decades.
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Speaking from John to another, the treble-winner said: “You and all the fans are the life and soul of, and a big part of [City’s growth]. We recognise that as players and I just want to thank you for every bit of support.
“I see us all as one and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without each other, so thank you again from me personally and everyone in the team”. We always knew Stonesy was sound.
As his son David explained in his letter to the club, “It’s been a lifetime of early morning kick-offs in the family lounge room,”, adding that his “Dad has often been heard whooping and yelling in the wee hours of the morning across the neighbourhood.”
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Go on, John; there’s no other way to be when you’re watching your team and we’re so glad to know he got this special moment with what is the club’s greatest achievement. Better still, he wasn’t the only one to be taken aback by the surprise either.
Back in Ashton-under-Lyne, fellow City supporter Mark Whittaker — a lifelong Blue from Denton who was sadly diagnosed with malignant melanoma in March — saw the parade of glittering football prizes arrive at his bedside in the Willow Wood Hospice.
Labelling the moment “the only dream [he] had left”, Mark was over the moon as he also received a signed shirt and video message from former City and England winger Peter Barnes. A real touch of class from the club and one that no doubt meant a lot to both Blues and their families.
Featured Image — Manchester City/Willow Wood Hospice
Sport
Scott McTominay jokes he’s ‘fuming’ he didn’t score a hat-trick against Chelsea as he reflects on Man United’s mentality
Danny Jones
Scott McTominay has joked he’s “fuming” with himself after failing to score a hat-trick in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Wednesday nightand shed some light on the mentality around Old Trafford.
McTominay starred in the Red Devils’ win over Mauricio Pochettino’s side on a cold night at home, managing to bag a brace with a goal in the first and second half to get his squad over the line, but he himself said he could have had more.
Speaking to MUTV after the game, the 26-year-old said he and the squad knew they needed to drum up a reaction after the Newcastle disappointment, adding that contributing more goals is something he wants to keep working on and insisting that plenty of people back him to do so.
Confessing that his mum, dad and grandad have all been encouraging him to “get in the box” and that he just needs to “believe in [him]self and go for it”, the Scotsman did go on to quip he was “fuming” to not grab a third as he shook his head went on to shake and reveal a wry smile.
Scott McTominay was the match-winner against Chelsea.
Commentator and presenter Stewart Gardner went on to list McTominay’s impressive stats this season, having now scored 14 goals in his last 33 appearances for club and country. A seriously good rate from a midfielder typically entrusted to help link play and break things up in the middle of the park.
Now boasting half a dozen goals and an assist across all competitions so far this campaign, he sits as the club’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League with five finishes to his name — with only Bruno Fernandes having contributed more (five goals and five assists) — he’s genuinely become one of Man United’s main goal threats.
While he recently rubbished talk that he played as a striker regularly coming up through the youth academy, simply having been deployed for the odd game in reality, he has always had a shot on him and it isn’t the first time he’s bagged a winner or a big goal for the Reds. This wasn’t a bad one either:
Chatting with the pundits on Amazon Prime Sport, he reiterated that he could have had “one or two more” on another night and agreed that the performance against Newcastle in the previous fixture was “pretty abysmal”, holding his hands up to admit that it was “no way near good enough”.
Reflecting on the later chance he had to seal the hat-trick towards the end of the game, he said he simply needed to “calm down on the last one”.
As for the mentality to get the result during a difficult period where the club remained under a lot of scrutiny from pundits and fans alike, McTominay went on to say that the manager is responsible for the way they played and some “lighter training sessions to keep energy levels up” definitely helped.
Regardless, he was sure to not get ahead of himself and assured ten Hag‘s team were still taking things a game at a time. You can watch the full highlights from Manchester United vs Chelsea down below:
Featured Images — Scott McTominay (via Instagram)/MUTV
Sport
Kevin Sinfield has entered the final leg of yet another ultra marathon challenge for MND
Danny Jones
Ex-rugby player turned England coach Kevin Sinfield has begun the final day of yet another incredible ultra marathon challenge he is undertaking to raise money and awareness around motor neurone disease (MND), with the sports personality scheduled to finish up this Thursday.
Having set off on 1 December, the Oldham-born athlete is facing what he has called easily his “toughest challenge” yet, taking on the newly-dubbed ‘Ultra 7 in 7 in 7’, which will see him once again run an ultra marathon every day for seven days across seven different cities.
Following on from his first Ultra 7 in 7 back in 2020 and most recent one last year, the Leeds Rhinos legend has now raised well over £8 million pounds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), the cause he got behind following his former teammate and best mate Rob Burrow’s diagnosis in 2019.
Now, having taken on the incredible feat once again — running the equivalent of 27 miles (43km) a day — Sinfield is hoping to not just reach the trademark £777,777 fundraising target, but smash it for a fourth consecutive time. Here he is finishing up his penultimate leg in his second home.
Setting off from Yorkshire’s iconic Headingley Stadium with a team of friends and volunteers, the 43-year-old has passed through the likes of Cardiff, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin and Brighton, and is now staring down one last push towards the finale from Twickenham Stadium to the Mall in London.
Having already amassed over £557k in donations since the start of his remarkable journey, he is well on course to reach the finish line in every sense of the word.
The best part about this most recent Ultra 7 fundraising challenge, though, is that beyond just putting in the hard yards in Burrow‘s name and raising money for the MNDA, the funds generated from this series of runs will be going to multiple causes.
As well as the Leeds Hospitals Charity and The Darby Rimmer MND Foundation, money will also be going to the Irish MNDA set up by former Scottish rugby player, Doddie Weir, who sadly died from the condition in 2022 but has remained an inspiration to Sinfield and countless others over recent years.
Having echoed his lasting sentiment that “MND isn’t untreatable, it’s just underfunded” throughout his own campaigning for the cause, the local sporting hero will also be representing the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation in his honour. Heartwarming stuff.
As we’re sure is the case for all of you too, we’ve been absolutely blown away by this man over the last few years not only in his ability to keep completing these huge feats of endurance but by the size of his heart in continuing to fundraise on such a massive scale.
From raising awareness around MND and becoming an emblem of friendship with his best mate Rob, Kevin Sinfield has truly set an example for all of us and will no doubt prove a role model to millions for years to come.
Danny Jones -
26th October 2023 
