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”.
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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.
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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”.
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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.
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”.
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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
The 2026 World Breaking Finals of the UK B-Boy Championships are coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s official: the UK B-Boy Championships are returning to Manchester this year for the 2026 World Breaking Finals, in what is a special anniversary for the annual tournament.
Celebrating three decades since the inaugural event this summer, the UK B-Boy Champs will once again remind fans why they still remain among the gold standard for competitive breakdancing.
With elite breakers and dance battlers from more than 20 different countries in attendance – and plenty of contestants from each, at that – it’s going to be a real global showcase of talent.
Returning to Manchester once again, we can’t wait to see breakdancing take over the Factory International concourse and wider campus.
Anyone in the world will know that the city also hosted another big European equivalent back in 2022 on behalf of the 2022 World DanceSport Federation, but the UK B-Boy Championships have a passionate following of their own.
This also happens to be the 30th anniversary of the event, so it’s a momentous occasion on many levels.
With live music from not only classic artists and legendary MCs, but artists for the future too, there’ll be plenty of tunes and impressive moves from start to finish.
Coming to Aviva Studios this summer, they’ve billed it quite short and sweet: “The sickest breakers on the planet will battle in a once-in-a-generation celebration of Hip-Hop culture.”
They’re promising “High-stakes rivalries. Gravity-defying moves”, and “Unforgettable performances”, adding, “This isn’t just another battle – this is the Champs legacy in motion.”
Credit: Supplied
The World Breaking Finals get underway in Manchester on 16 August at Aviva Studios, and it’s all set up to be arguably the biggest yet.
General admission went on sale this past Friday, 13 March, with adult tickets starting from only £20 and kids from just a tenner.
As we mentioned before, this isn’t the only big sporting date coming to Manchester this year, with the likes of the British basketball’s annual Cup Finals concluding at AO Arena and another big Super League set to for a grandstand finish at our other big indoor entertainment venue…
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via Get the Affects Communications)
Sport
The Premier League and EFL should follow La Liga’s lead and bring Retro Matchdays to the UK
Danny Jones
Following the news that La Liga is set to debut a new ‘Retro Matchday’ round, we can’t help but ask the question: why didn’t the Premier League and EFL think of this first?
Well, technically, neither did the Spaniards, but you take our point.
Anyone who follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or even the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) equivalent here in the UK and mainland Europe, will know that the concept is nothing new – but by and large, it seems to be for the beautiful game.
In case you missed it, in an effort to further capitalise on the increasing trend of vintage and classic football kit fashion/the wider nostalgia culture that only seems to be growing every year, Spain’s top two tiers will soon host their inaugural Retro Matchday gameweek next month, and we want a piece of it.
Set to be hosted from Friday, 10 April, over the usual weekend of football in their premier and second division, and running until the final lot of fixtures on Monday, 13 April (no, thankfully not an April Fool’s), supporters will get to see players step out onto the pitch in some of the country’s most iconic kits.
Depending on who you ask, some would argue that Spain has some of the nicest footy shirts all time, whether that be the national side or clubs themselves.
To be honest, we definitely have a soft spot for a proper European throwback – we’re thinking Borussia Dortmund’s 1995/96 home kit, the Napoli kits of the 80s, that amazing Toyota-sponsored Fila Fiorentina kit at the turn of the millennium – and even some of the best 2000s ones now look so old-school.
In fact, we actually had a taster of these kinds of special matches in the past, including here in 0161 for the likes of the Manchester Derby.
Reminds me of the Manchester derby in 2008 where they played in retro kits due to it coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Looked absolutely brilliant. pic.twitter.com/TLRjKHThbG
When you also take into account that, besides collectors already creating a whole new craze in filling their cupboards with classic kits, the likes of Nike, Adidas and more now regularly turning to old designs like the ‘Futura’, Total 90′ and various ‘adi Originals’ revivals of late, it’s more the rage than ever.
Birmingham’s recent ‘penguin’ remake, Port Vale’s traditional 150th anniversary one, based on their 1953-54 season jersey, not to mention countless other lifestyle fashion collections inspired by historic releases, you can’t move for the stuff – so why not get them wearing it on the grass?
As mentioned, the likes of local ice hockey outfit Manchester Storm have been taking a leaf out of the NHL’s book for ages now, with the annual ‘Retro Nights’ proving to be some of the most popular dates on the calendar, even selling off original shirts in the stadium itself before, during and after the match.
We genuinely can’t think of a single football lover following a team at any level in the English football pyramid that wouldn’t LOVE this. In fact, plenty of them already go to the ground wearing their dad’s second-hand away strip, which has turned out to be a modern cult favourite among the next generation.
These are the kinds of ideas we can see fans actually getting behind; you can find out more HERE. Would you like to see a retro Premier League and/or EFL match day featuring your favourite kits from down the years?
Danny Jones -
10th January 2023 
