Euro 2020 is already off to a cracking start for England fans.
It’s been a long time coming – but after a year of postponement due to the pandemic, with the sun shining and temperatures soaring, European football’s flagship tournament finally got underway over the weekend.
24 countries are battling it out for the sought-after trophy, including three UK home nations – England, Scotland, and Wales.
The tournament’s first match saw Italy secure a win over Turkey on Friday, but for many Mancunians and football fans up and down the country, all eyes were set on Sunday when England would face the team that knocked them out of the World Cup in 2018.
Gareth Southgate’s squad faced Croatia in their first match at Wembley Stadium, securing a solid 1-0 victory – which is the first time England has ever won their opening game at the European championships.
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The goal by Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling looked to kick-start what we’re all hoping will be a special summer of sport.
But it perhaps won’t quite be the summer of sport we were all expecting.
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Euro 2020 is due to take place right through until 11 July, but after a ruling which sadly looked imminent for weeks prior, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has this evening confirmed that the country’s so-called ‘Freedom Day’ – which was originally set as 21 June – is to be delayed by four weeks, with an anticipated lifting of all lockdown / social restrictions now set for 19 July, at the earliest.
The UK government has always maintained the stance that it would be guided by “data not dates” when it comes to introducing each step in its “irreversible” roadmap for lifting the current national lockdown, and that the date for each step was not set it stone.
Despite this admission though, today’s latest decision will have undoubtedly still dealt a blow to the rafts of England fans who were hoping to bring the unrivalled atmosphere of the 2018 World Cup and previous tournaments back to Manchester.
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While bustling fan parks, roaring goal celebrations, pints being thrown in the air, hugging strangers, and joining in for renditions of Three Lions may not be on the cards this year after all, that doesn’t mean we still can’t make some unique memories.
Against all the odds, maybe Euro 2020 will be the tournament that England fans remember fondly for years to come?
We can always still hold out hope that football is coming home, right?
Manchester’s Oast House
It truly is all to play for this week, as England face fellow home nation and old rivals Scotland this Friday in the second match of the Group Stage.
Fans will descend on Wembley once again, with a kick-off set for 8pm.
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Looking for somewhere to watch?
Manchester is a city that’s obsessed with football and its engrained in our culture like nothing else, so it’s understandable that there’s plenty places in the city centre that are pulling out all the stops in the safest way possible for the Euros this year, and after being inundated with messages from our loyal audience who were keen to find out the best places to catch a match this summer, we’ve knuckled down and did the leg work for you.
So if you’re looking for some recommendations ahead of England vs Scotland this Friday, you can check out 20 of the best spots in Manchester city centre here.
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Don’t fancy hitting up the city centre this weekend though? Prefer to celebrate at home instead?
Cheering on the national team in the company of fellow eager football fans definitely has its appeal, but it’s not for everyone and many would rather spend it with their nearest and dearest in the comfort of their own home or garden instead.
If that sounds a little more up your street, then you’re not alone, as we asked our Facebook community to send us pictures of their garden setups ready for last Sunday’s match – and they certainly didn’t disappoint.
If you’re thinking of kitting out your garden this weekend, then you can head on over and check out the roundup article for some inspiration here.
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The Manchester 24 Hour Run raises over £70,000 for the region’s homeless community
Danny Jones
The numbers are in for the 2025 Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness, which saw hordes of runners take over the city centre to generate money for the ever-crucial cause.
Having set an ambitious target of £50,000, not only did they manage to achieve their goal, they absolutely SMASHED it, totalling more than £70k.
In fact, with last-minute donations and matching contributions still trickling in over a fortnight on from this year’s event, the final figure is actually set to surpass that by several thousands.
Simply incredible stuff. Speaking on the night, here’s what the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, had to say about another inspiring edition of the annual endurance relay.
Running in the wind and rain, dashing through puddles in the cold, the pitch black and all through the night into the fresh cold Manc morning this month, more than a thousand volunteers, locals, businesses, and more laced up their trainers for the seventh edition in six years.
For those unaware, this event is a recurring 5k relay loop around Manchester, with the route designed to run around parts of the city centre where you can witness homelessness first-hand.
Taking place in November every year – when the region is even more dark, grey and wet than usual – this also gives participants an opportunity to further empathise with the discomfort felt by rough sleepers.
Well over 4,000 individuals and 165 organisations have taken part in this initiative since 2019, funding more than 70,000 nights of accommodation through the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity and its ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme. That tally is set to jump massively, once again, after this year’s run.
Here’s how the 2025 stats on the tarmac break down:
100 running clubs and organisations
Over 1,500 individual runners and walkers
44 x five-kilometre consecutive relay laps run
Over £188,700* raised across all events and years.
Multiple sponsors, including Autotrader, Accenture and Mistral
Credit: Ed Hill (supplied)
In 2025, the 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness also successfully expanded to Sheffield and Hereford for the first time, as well as returning to Birmingham for its second year.
The event unites local running communities to support local organisations. Better still, in 2026, the event is expected to expand again; for instance, after a rescheduling, the event is heading over to Yorkshire once more for the inaugural edition of The Leeds 24 Hour Run in March 2026.
Reflecting on the event’s seventh year, The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness co-founder, Thomas Lewis, says: “Every year I think we’ve hit our peak in terms of fundraising and turnout, and every year we somehow manage to surpass it. I’m completely blown away by the support and dedication of the Manchester running community. Bring on next year.”
Fran Darlington-Pollock, the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity’s outgoing CEO, added: “We’re so proud to continue supporting this incredible event and all the hard work that goes into making it such a success year after year.
“The passion and dedication of the organisers, runners, and supporters are truly inspiring, and we’re so grateful for the funds raised, which help people experiencing homelessness through A Bed Every Night.”
Anyone still wanting to make a donation can do so by visiting The 24 Hour Run website and the attached JustGiving page HERE, which will remain open for a few weeks following the event.
There are plenty of other ways we can help fight homelessness throughout the year, and it’s by pursuing vital causes like this that we truly put the great in Greater Manchester.
Greater Manchester stadiums included in the bid to host the Women’s World Cup confirmed
Danny Jones
The locations for the official UK bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup have been revealed, along with the Greater Manchester football stadiums chosen for the honour.
Not exactly a ground-breaking spoiler, but the FA did make a somewhat curious choice when they shared the news.
In case you hadn’t heard the news earlier this year, our nation has officially thrown its hat into the ring for the Women’s World Cup (WWC) in 2035, with England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all set to offer up their arenas as part of the record-breaking proposal.
Naturally, a region as footy-obsessed as ours and with two of the biggest stadiums in the country was always going to be included, but as mentioned, there was a particular detail that lots of people quickly noticed following the announcement.
Yes, in a slightly bizarre but ultimately innocuous turn of events, Etihad Stadium – home of Manchester City FC – has been selected, as was the world-famous ‘Theatre of Dreams‘, the only difference being that it was listed separately from the city itself.
Instead, Man United’s iconic home turf, Old Trafford, has been listed as just that: in Trafford, specifically, as opposed to simply being listed in the same section as its sky blue counterpart.
Now, while it’s true that all 10 boroughs have their own identity, culture (not to mention some subscribing to still being part of Lancashire or even Cheshire), it did strike us and others as a bit odd to put that rather iconic and equally historic venue down as almost separate from the city.
Many would argue that one of the things Manchester is best known for around the globe is the team of Red Devils that play at that ground.
Naturally, ‘Cityzens‘ have had their fair share of fun with the post and, conversely, there’s been plenty of retorts regarding ‘supporters from Stockport’, as you would expect…
Nevertheless, we’re just glad to see the Etihad and Old Trafford continuing to cater to some of the biggest dates on the sporting calendar.
Some have actually argued that the region should have been given opportunities to host more stadiums and/or games as part of the market pitch, as the likes of both Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic’s stadiums were floated as viable or even better alternatives, capacity-wise.
Either way, with the 22 venues that have been selected for the UK’s bid for the 2035 Women’s World Cup and us Brits currently unopposed in the race to secure the tournament, the FA are going all-in for the 48-team competition, which would be “the biggest single-sport event ever staged in the UK.”
You can read more down below.
Our shared ambition: to host the largest single-sport event ever staged in the UK, and the first FIFA World Cup in this country since 1966.#AllTogetherpic.twitter.com/y6GOPEPDdG
Emily Sergeant -
14th June 2021 
