Wythenshawe FC, formerly known as Wythenshawe Amateurs, set a new record for their largest-ever attendance this week as the club looks to keep growing as a semi-professional football club.
The South Manchester side dropped their ‘Amateur’ tag and introduced a new crest back in June as they look to further establish both their men’s and women’s teams, and with the club’s infrastructure continuing to develop, they have now managed to pull in their biggest crowd ever.
Playing against the similarly invigorated Bury FC following their return to Gigg Lane and competitive football, Wythenshawe hosted a reported 1,400 supporters on Tuesday evening, comfortably the most fans they’ve ever had come along to a game.
In fact, given the club is still only just starting to expand as they aim to not just become a fully-fledged semi-pro outfit but potentially go beyond that, they even had to turn fans away from their Hollyhedge Park stadium. Massive.
BIGGEST CROWD IN WYTHENSHAWE!
Last night’s attendance against @buryfcofficial was a club-record 1,400 ⚽️
Unfortunately, we had to turn some spectators away.
The home ground itself was only built back in 2017 and despite plenty of loyal match-goers week in and week out, the club hasn’t witnessed scenes like these all that often.
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Still known as the ‘Ammies’, a huge part of the club’s growth over the past year or so has not only come from their promotion into the North West Counties League’s Premier Division but Manchester’s Night-Time Economy Adviser and WHP founder Sacha Lord coming on board as Chair.
Back in April, Lord expressed his excitement to be joining the board and insisted they had “plans to grow attendance and improve the overall experience for fans and visitors, making this a thriving ground with a hugely diverse fanbase.” It looks as though they’re already well on their way to making the vision a reality.
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They new-look club even took pride of place on the big screens at Noel Gallagher’s recent Wythenshawe Park gig — a massive homecoming show that was the first the venue had ever seen and which local lad Lord, along with Mayor Andy Burnham, also helped to make happen.
One of the best parts about Wythenshawe FC managing record attendance numbers and making waves in such a way is that the progress isn’t just limited to the men’s team either.
Earlier this year, around the same time they changed their name and badge, the Ammies also made a commitment to devote just as much time and resources to developing the women’s team as well, taking them semi-pro and appointing a new head coach in James Mulvihill.
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Speaking at the time of the announcement, women’s captain Sophie Whitby said: “This is great news for women and girls throughout our club – showing how much we value them and how ambitious we are for them.
“I think it will send a really strong signal in the footballing world but also in our local community: that equality matters.
“We’ve created a really strong pathway for boys and men to semi-professional football, retaining players within the club. I firmly believe we can do this for women and girls too. I’m so proud to be a part of it.”
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
7th September 2023 
