Highly-regarded football podcaster and content creator, HLTCO, has finally revealed his face and full identity. Better still, the reaction online has warmed our hearts.
Unveiling himself for the first time on a brand new YouTube channel under the same name, the extremely popular football fanatic, commentator, journalist and Crystal Palace fan brought the mystery surrounding his 12-year-long alias to an end with his first video.
For more than a decade, football Twitter and social media, in general, have known him as HLTCO (‘Hopkin Looking To Curl One’ — inspired by a famous goal by Palace’s David Hopkin in the 1997 play-off final) and while his name has been out there for a while now, most are only familiar with the acronym.
That was until this Monday when the man himself, Dan Cook, showed his face to his 114,200+ strong following for the first time in over a decade and while he admitted it was “genuinely scary putting [himself] out there”, he was embraced with open arms by his fans and social media at large.
Took a lot of courage to do that, so much respect to you for doing so and putting this video out there. Keep going with all your amazing work 👏
As explained in his lengthy 15-minute piece to camera, the main reason that he waited so long to show himself on a public forum was that he suffers from cerebral palsy, stating: “there’s been a real push and pull and emotional turmoil that has gone alongside my perspective on myself”.
Confessing that he hasn’t always been completely reconciled with how he feels about being disabled, speaking out in this way and going public with what is clearly a very personal struggle was no small feat, so can only applaud him for his bravery.
For the longest time, Dan has defined himself as someone “obsessed with football” and geared virtually all aspects of his personal and professional life towards immersing himself in sport, which is part of the reason why so many people who shared his interests have towards HLTCO to begin with.
Credit: HLTCO (via YouTube)
Upon seeing his latest update, his social media channels have been awash with touching messages from well-wishers and plenty reassuring him that he had never had anything to worry about when it came to simply being himself.
One person said, “You’ll inspire many others to get involved in things they love”, another labelled him a “hero who deserves all the love [he] is receiving”; a third explained how his content has touched them on an even more direct level:
“I can relate to this and you. I felt the same with my disability affecting parts of speech and my left side. Took me a while to have the guts to do YouTube videos. Keep smashing it”.
Even those who haven’t always been a fan of his content came out to show their support and recognise the courage it took to overcome the anxiety surrounding his disability.
I can appreciate that now, as per the video I’ll mind not to stop you in the concourse or the pub. Best of luck honestly 🤝
After having spoken and seen each other on an earlier podcast he alludes to in the video, sports journalist Laura Woods said that she had no idea that Dan had any kind of disability and, like most others aware of the account, simply followed him for his footballing opinions.
She later went on to take up a section of her talkSPORT breakfast show to discuss the reveal video, share her thoughts on his wonderful and insightful content, as well as how she got to know him through the industry and, fundamentally, separate from any knowledge of his condition.
It is a truly lovely watch that clearly hit home with the well-known Twitter personality who had always been wary of sympathy or special treatment and has gone on to make a name for himself through nothing other than hard work and great content.
Honestly, having @laura_woodsy take the time to say this about me on national radio is mind-blowing.
As co-host Ally McCoist rightly points out during the segment, it seems unbelievable that people would abuse others diagnosed with cerebral palsy but as Woods points out, “it’s social media: everything happens on there, everything you can think of”.
With that in mind, Dan often worried his condition might limit and/or prevent him from feeling confident enough to “go down the path of working for a formal publication”, so he spawned the HLTCO brand which allowed him to talk about his beloved Crystal Palace and develop his career organically instead.
Turns out, he’s gone on to develop one of the most avid followings on the platform, cultivating a huge number of fans who tune in to enjoy his tweets, podcast and, soon, YouTube videos. Moreover, the responses to both his video and Laura’s shows there are still plenty of nice people on the old ‘bird app’.
Your story is nothing short of inspirational. Keep doing what you do mate ❤️
Above all else, his success story serves as a shining example to anyone looking to overcome personal obstacles and do what they love.
Well in, Dan.
You can watch his full face reveal and hear more about what’s coming from him in the near future down below. Be sure to check out the HLTCO Podcast while you’re at it.
Featured Image — HLTCO (via YouTube)/talkSPORT (via Twitter)
Sport
Darts returns to Manchester as Premier League dates are confirmed for 2026
Danny Jones
The schedule for the 2026 Premier League Darts tour has been officially announced, with the PDC’s annual championship returning to Manchester once again.
PDC Premier League fixtures continue to grow in popularity both in TV figures and live match attendance, with a whole new generation of fans getting into ‘the arrows’.
Just as it has for decades now, league darts is coming back to Manchester city centre and the legendary AO Arena once again, with our date landing right in the middle of the season.
Booking a big night right in the middle of a crucial period in the competition? It sounds like 0161 is set to welcome another blockbuster night up at the oche.
Confirmed on Thursday, 11 September, next year’s PDC Premier League Darts campaign will get underway in February, spanning the course of four months and eight countries.
Of the European cities on the circuit, the tournament will be heading to Belgium for the very first time, as the AFAS Dome in Antwerp replaces Exeter.
Elsewhere on the continent, there are two other mainland evenings in Germany and the Netherlands, along with multiple Northern dates here in the UK, such as Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield.
As for Manchester, we’ve been selected for round nine of 17 (including the finals), with the AO Arena set to welcome multiple favoured competitors from the North West, including 18-year-old phenomenon Luke Little from down the road in Warrington, as well as Stockport’s very own Nathan Aspinall.
It was an unforgettable experience for Aspinall last time around in his local event, as he finally managed to win a PDC Premier League night on home turf for the first time in his career.
Those hoping to enjoy a night of darts in front of a Manchester crowd on April 26, 2026, still have to be patient for now, as general admission is still a little way off.
However, if you are interested, you can sign up for the AO’s newsletter to find out more information and get yourself on the waiting list early.
Better, if you go straight through the PDC, you can throw your hat in the ring for the presale window right now and be first in line to grab tickets when they go live.
You can do so HERE and, until then, get your signs and fancy dress at the ready because we’ll be heading back to the ‘boring, boring tables’ soon enough.
See the 2026 PDC Premier League Darts schedule in full down below:
Manchester City said no to a pretty significant player swap with Liverpool last year
Danny Jones
Manchester City reportedly rejected a transfer proposal involving swapping one of their youngest and most exciting stars with close rivals Liverpool in 2024
This could have proved to be an interesting one…
Man City aren’t exactly short on forwards at the moment and have brought in plenty of attacking options over the past year, and with Erling Haaland breaking all manner of records up front for them, they didn’t find it too hard to sell on another promising young striker in Julián Álvarez for a club record sale.
However, as per recent claims made by a Telegraph Sport journalist, there was a possibility of Álvarez swapping the blue of City for the red of Liverpool.
🚨🚨| In summer 2024, when Liverpool realised Luis Díaz wanted to join Man City, their recruitment team proposed the Colombian to the Etihad Stadium in exchange for Julián Alvarez. Man City said: “We don’t sell to rivals." Liverpool said: “Neither do we then."
That’s according to football writer Chris Bascombe, anyway, who recently wrote that the two Premier League sides could have engaged in a player swap deal were the division’s then Treble-winners willing to negotiate with the only other team that has really contested the title with them in recent years.
As you can see, Bascombe states that Luis Díaz wanted a switch to the Etihad Stadium even before the current English champions shuffled their front three.
This has been backed up by The Times’ Paul Joyce as well, who says that the Colombian winger was ultimately “unsettled” by interest from City and others
Díaz (who recently signed for Bayern Munich) made it clear he wanted to play under Pep Guardiola, and it seems there was at least some willingness from the Merseyside outfit.
Provided they get an increasingly wantaway Julián Álvarez in return.
With Haaland having been brought in and making himself comfortably the go-to number nine for what could very well be the next decade, they clearly saw an opportunity to offer him an alternative, but Man City simply said, “We don’t sell to rivals.”
Ultimately, the now 25-year-old World Cup winner went to Europe, joining Atletico Madrid for a whopping £81.5m.
Regardless, it seems hard to imagine not only two top-flight English teams doing a deal like this but to picture what it would have been like to see Álvarez, who was still very highly thought of among a large section of supporters, being cheered on by the fans inside Anfield.
The Argentinian striker – though he has been utilised in a variety of positions at the top end of the pitch – has well and truly shone in La Liga, and now looks like he could be set to swap Madrid for Barcelona.
Álvarez has apparently made it clear to those closest to him that he wants Barca, and despite the summer window closing, the Catalan giants could pursue a deal to sign him next year when his contract expires, or indeed, even go after him this January.
Meanwhile, after bringing in plenty of new talent over the past few months, with Manchester City now effectively being given the green light to proceed with a major commercial sponsorship deal, you could very well see yet more big money being spent in seasons to come.
Danny Jones -
10th January 2023 
