Any Manc that reveals themselves to be a sports fan is invariably asked the same question: Are you a Red or a Blue?
United and City’s respective success on football’s world stage means Manchester is often divided neatly down the middle. One side are Devils. The other are Cityzens.
But football support here isn’t binary. It’s a spectrum.
In between the famous hell red and sky blue, there’s a kaleidoscope of club colours. Starting with Hulme Athenaeum in the 1860s, Greater Manchester has been a blossoming garden for the beautiful game.
In recent history, there’s been a team for almost every borough above the sixth tier (Tameside being the only exception until recently).
ADVERTISEMENT
But the rainbow of club colours in Greater Manchester is rapidly being bleached.
The white and navy blue of Bury was washed out of the football league in 2019. The blood red of Droylsden was removed from the Northern Premier earlier this year.
Despite its somewhat diminutive stature, Wigan Athletic is a special little club; having repeatedly come out on top when the odds are stacked against them.
ADVERTISEMENT
After climbing up from regional levels and making their way into the football league in the 1970s, The Latics enjoyed a meteoric rise under the regime of chairman Dave Whelan in the noughties; moving from the old Division Two to the Premier League in the space of three years.
It was wonderful to watch – temporarily diverting eyes away from the two big clubs in the region to gawp at the blue and white stripes making big waves in northern football.
Everyone expected Wigan to swiftly exit the door as soon as they entered – a la Grandpa Simpson – but they made themselves part of the Premier League furniture; remaining in football’s top tier for eight seasons.
During that final Prem campaign in 2013, they also battled their way to the cup final – facing billionaire-backed Manchester City in what was, on paper, a guaranteed drubbing.
We all know how that one ended. Again, Wigan stunned the football world – and it’s a memory that’s gone down as one the great all-time shocks of Mancunian football.
ADVERTISEMENT
Two changes in ownership, however, have left the club unbalanced.
Despite passing the football league’s ‘test and takeover’ criteria, Wigan were left in the financial red zone by the most recent acquisition in 2020 – headed by Wai Kay Au Yeung, the frontman of Next Leader Fund (NLF).
Suddenly, the cards were stacked against The Latics once again. The football league deducted 12 points from their tally as Wigan went into administration, landing the club in the biggest battle of their existence.
Just days after that deduction, Wigan won 8-0. Their biggest league victory on record. They were still fighting.
They even resisted their deduction with a quarrel, but when the FL dismissed their claims (unfairly, some argue), it was confirmed the club would play football in the third tier for 2020/21.
ADVERTISEMENT
At least, in theory. Wigan will only compete next year if a buyer can be found. And there’s just a matter of days left to raise the necessary funds.
According to administrators Begbies Traynor, if no agreement is reached by 31 August, considerations would have to be made as to whether the club can begin the new campaign.
Wigan need £500,000 by Monday. It’s a steep hill. But the good news is, they’re already more than a third of the way there.
All the local leaders – including MP Lisa Nandy, Wigan Council and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are behind the cause. It’s over to us now.
Huge day today. With just weeks to go until the new season starts @WiganAthSC have put together plans to make sure that, whatever happens, our club will survive.
We have a lot of support and we know we can do this – but we need your help https://t.co/QsfUloqLGX
So close to our first £100,000 to save our club & aim to secure a voice at the very highest level in the future of WAFC.Pledge now to receive rewards in Wigan Athletic once survival is secured.Together we can make our football club fan & community led!https://t.co/HwN8xDOgPo
— Official Wigan Athletic Supporters Club (@WiganAthSC) August 26, 2020
A petition has been launched to raise the necessary money to keep Wigan alive.
ADVERTISEMENT
Wigan Athletic Supporters’ Club stated: “We need to be READY to act in order to secure the future of Wigan Athletic. Not just a football club, but an integral part of our community that helps to improve thousands of lives across Wigan.
“We need to raise £500,000 by Monday 31st August from supporters and community pledges. Each pledge will make a difference and YOU will be rewarded with a place in our future for your pledge.
“This funding will be used to support the future of the football club with community-ownership and supporter representation and influence at the highest level.”
Wigan have given the game in Greater Manchester so much in terms of shock, glory, and enjoyment over the years. It’s time for us to do our bit and give back.
Football up here won’t be the same without Wigan Athletic.
Sport
Manchester City sign Beth Mead as European champion Lioness completes major transfer move to WSL title rivals
Danny Jones
In a major move for recently crowned champions Manchester City, two-time Euros winner Beth Mead has completed a switch from title Women’s Super League (WSL) rivals Arsenal.
This one is sure to cause quite the stir, especially given the players that have been transferred between them in the past.
Announcing the signing on Friday, 12 June, Man City Women confirmed the done deal in a social media post that also revealed she will don the number seven shirt.
With City having finally won the first title in over a decade earlier this year – only their second in the modern era – the England Women’s star and WSL heavyweight didn’t mince her words on arrival, telling the club and its fans: “I’m here to win.”
The 31-year-old from Whitby spent the best part of nine years at Arsenal, during which time she has also gone on to become one of the most prolific Lionesses under Sarina Wiegman.
Boasting not only 81 national team caps to her name, but also having scored 40 times in his career thus far (her assists included, guaranteeing at least a goal contribution every other game, on average), she’s been one of the most dangerous female forwards in Europe for some time now.
Speaking in a club statement, she said: “City have always played beautiful football, but I think this season they’ve been very cutthroat in front of goal, [found] different ways of scoring, different ways of creating goalscoring opportunities.
“I think that’s been the difference: they’ve found ways to score and win games when it’s been cagey, or whether it’s felt easy and you become complacent. I think that’s been the difference this season for City winning.”
Having already linked up with fellow England star Alex Greenwood upon making her first appearance at Man City’s brand new women’s football facility, she went on to add: “I’ve played with a lot of the players in the team, I’ve watched a lot of players in the team over the years and in the season gone [by], and I think that’s what created a lot of excitement.
They’ve aimed to set a new industry standard for the women’s game.
Penning a first MCWFC contract this week, she has signed a deal until the summer of 2029; both she and City supporters will no doubt be hoping she can add at least one more piece of silverware by the end of the 2026/27 campaign.
With head coach Andrée Jeglertz now looking to mount a title defence over at the Etihad Campus, and the Women’s World Cup in Brazil getting underway this time next year, Mead will obviously be looking to hit the ground running ahead of her first season in sky blue.
There is undoubtedly an element of curiosity to see who will have the better overall performance this upcoming term between her and national teammate Chloe Kelly, with the latter ex-City player having left the club for the red side of north London instead.
Speaking of cities split into two halves, football-wise, elsewhere in transfer news, Manchester United have also been linked to a new attacker of their own – it remains to be seen how strong the interest is going both ways…
2026 World Cup fans in North America are being mocked already – and this could be just the beginning
Danny Jones
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has only just kicked off over in North America, and while the opening match between Mexico and South Africa had lots of drama, the spotlight was already on supporters even prior to the tournament starting, with certain fans being mocked over their presence – or lack thereof, in some cases.
Plenty of people were fully expecting a fair bit of being poked at the USA as one of the joint host nations and the country holding the most fixtures out of the three after Mexico and Canada, in which football remains the biggest sport throughout both.
While the days of claiming that Americans will “never embrace soccer” – a joke even made by The Simpsons back in 2007 – do look to have been a bit hyperbolic and tongue-in-cheek, it goes without saying that the perceived Americanisation of European/association football (which, ironically, we dubbed soccer first) is a growing concern among followers of ‘the beautiful game’ all over the globe.
Especially in situations when you see the likes of so-called fans literally perched pitchside whilst sat eating their dinner in raised posh seats located right next to the corner flag.
One of the weirdest scenes you’ll see in football… people casually eating dinner at tables set up right next to the corner flag 🤔pic.twitter.com/gTtdRlD19v
— No Context World Cup (@NoContextEPL) June 11, 2026
For context, in case anyone missed it, this now-viral clip on social media took place before the World Cup proper actually kicked off, as the puzzling sight was captured in England’s final friendly against Costa Rica at the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
Thankfully, the Three Lions looked to head into their opening fixture of the 2026 World Cup in good shape following the 3-0 win, but we won’t pretend to ignore the fact that lots of the discussion surrounded the scenes up in the stands.
Now, obviously, VIP and hospitality, not to mention the fact that most US sporting arenas are designed quite differently from most football stadiums, often favouring taller structures, with large open bowls that regularly exceed the capacity of, say, Wembley.
However, when you’re trying to create an atmosphere where those who could afford to buy a ticket have made the effort to travel over to the admittedly controversial tournament to immerse themselves in the sheer passion of following a national team around the world and dreaming of bringing home, arguably, the single biggest prize, it doesn’t make for great visuals seeing ‘fans’ having a casual sit-down meal.
To many, images like these kind of gave the impression that the game itself was secondary and a bit of background entertainment, rather than, you know, the other way round – you’ve only paid THOUSANDS to be there, let alone spitting distance from the turf itself…
We’re not trying to sound like gatekeepers on how someone should enjoy the sport they like watching, but it does feel less like you’re actively supporting the players out there in moments like these, and the English, in particular, have already made their feelings known on some behaviour and what they deem as ‘proper’ footy fandom:
That being said, crowd interactions like this have proved just as divisive, too, with some accusing the Brits abroad of supporter snobbery, almost, and refusing to get in the light-hearted spirit as others have.
Once again, by the way, most of these instances took place before the first matches had even been played, or at the very least before their country had kicked a ball yet.
Besides the obvious political backdrop to the entire month ahead, jibes at the overall vibe of the tournament also haven’t been helped by the fact that some companies have instead paid fans to come and watch the football not inside the grounds but from a premium viewing zone inside a glass box on a big telly right in the heart of Times Square. People are now even watching them watching it.
And that’s not all; far from it.
There were swathes of empty seats at the Akron Stadium that were particularly concentrated towards the pitchside VIP section at the centre of the east stand, but patches of red seats could be seen throughout — leaving what looked like thousands of empty seats in total.
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) June 12, 2026
Several stadiums are already having to come to terms with the very likely prospect of not only failing to sell out but also settling for being some way off packed out enough to mirror the kind of energy to match the best World Cups in history.
The Mexican home crowd at the Estadio Azteca – the largest in all of Latin America, boasting a max cap of more than 83,000 – was always going to be a sell-out, but with games being played at all manner of times in an effort to try and beat the heat and manage conditions across various challenging climates, empty seats are bound to be spotted.
Thousands of Koreans and Czechs were there to be seen for this year’s second official clash, but it was evident that there were noticeable gaps around the venue, and don’t be surprised if you see more before the final. It’s certainly going to be an edition with just as many narratives off the pitch as on it, if not maybe even more, if this is a sign of things to come.
What are your early impressions of the 2026 World Cup so far?
The Manc -
27th August 2020 
