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Manchester has been named one of the top cities in the UK for people getting engaged

Engagement related searches have risen by 17.85% across the country over the past year.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 5th May 2021

New research has revealed that more people in the UK have been looking to get engaged over the past year than the twelve months prior.

Despite the fact that large and extravagant wedding celebrations have seemed like a thing of the past due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions of the past year, Google search data has shown that engagement-related searches have risen by 17.85% across the country to 3,897,680 between April 2020 and March 2021, which is an increase of just over 590,000.

From low-key private proposals, to giant gestures at massive public events and more, every engagement is a special moment, and every proposal has to happen somewhere – but where in the UK are the most people getting engaged?

Manchester is one of those places, apparently.

Online jewellery retailer, Jewellery Box, has determined “the UK’s engagement capitals” by comparing the number of engagement-related searches to the population in each city to discover the cities with the highest percentage of people interested in taking that next step and where you’re most likely to get engaged in 2021.

According to the findings, around 7.35% of the Manchester population is looking to get engaged in 2021, which places the city at number 12 on the list of engagement capitals.

Visit Manchester | Unsplash / Alekon Pictures

Coming in at number one is the historic north eastern city of Durham, with 12.28% of a population of just under 100,000 searching for engagement related terms in the past twelve months, and other fellow northern cities Liverpool, Newcastle and Kingston Upon Hull have also landed a spot on the list.

When it comes to the cities that have had the biggest rise in lockdown love, Manchester is sadly nowhere to be seen this time around.

Despite being one of the smaller cities in the country, St Albans has had by far the biggest increase in engagement related searches during the past year, from 1,620 searches to 3,880 during the past year.

There was a 29.95% increase in Preston, 25.05% in Wakefield, and 22.33% in Bradford.

You can have a look at the full findings from the research into the UK’s most popular engagement cities on the Jewellery Box website.

Featured Image – Unsplash / Andre Jackson

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Kalvin Phillips is reportedly set to be reintegrated into the Manchester City squad

Danny Jones Danny Jones Kalvin Phillips could be brought back into the Man City squad

Long-exiled Manchester City player Kalvin Phillips is reportedly on the verge of being reintegrated into Pep Guardiola’s squad this season.

The ex-Leeds United star, who signed for the Blues back in 2022, has still only made just 16 appearances for the club, but could now be eyeing up a potential renaissance.

Man City have made plenty of signings this year, but with a number of outgoings and several injuries in key positions, it looks like there could be an avenue for the one-time England international to fight his way back into the team.

As per Telegraph Sport‘s Mike McGrath, Kalvin Phillips is set to be reintroduced to City’s 25-man Premier League selection; the question is, can he make it into a first-team XI?

According to McGrath, Phillips will be “given a chance to resurrect his career at the Etihad Stadium” with the meat and potatoes of the 2025/26 campaign still yet to get properly underway.

Now 29, the Yorkshireman is well and truly within the crucial ‘prime’ years as an athlete, and after such an extended period on the sidelines, he’ll be more motivated than anyone to get his career back on track.

The central defensive midfielder – who was formerly considered a key cog in the middle of the park for Leeds – has spent two loan spells away from the Etihad, but neither really worked out for the undeniably talented footballer.

Having joined West Ham for the latter portion of the 23/24 term and spending the last 12 months on loan at struggling Ipswich Town, his time at both clubs was pretty forgettable, punctuated by little more than a couple of unfortunate red cards and more time on the bench.

Speaking to Sky Sports fairly recently, he confessed that the last couple of years have been very difficult and was visibly emotional discussing his struggles since moving to Man City.

It’s also worth noting that Guardiola himself has admitted to feeling “so bad” for Kalvin Phillips’ situation – perhaps why he now looks like he could be given a second chance.

CDM-wise, Rodri and Nico González are considered the go-to options, but Stockport-born Rico Lewis and  Mateo Kovačić have also been used in the role.

Once again, although Man City face somewhat of an injury crisis ahead of the Manchester derby this weekend, any prolonged absences could at least see an opportunity arise for the forgotten man.

What do you make of Kalvin Phillips’ chances of being restored to the Manchester City squad and maybe even putting himself back into national team contention ahead of the World Cup?

Manchester City said no to a pretty significant player swap with Liverpool last year
We often wonder what players’ futures would have looked like if they ended up picking different moves…

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Featured Images — Sky Sports (screenshot via YouTube)/pantkiewicz (via Flickr)

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Manchester United are now investigating the curious case of… the missing boots?

Danny Jones Danny Jones Man United Women football boots went missing before game

Manchester United Women have been left with work to do in their Champions League qualifier and might need to have a word with kit staff too, as the administration is now said to be investigating how a bag of boots went missing ahead of the crucial match.

Now this is the sort of stuff you really couldn’t write…

Yes, unbelievably, global footballing giants Man United had to quite literally pop to the shops to buy new football boots after a reported 13-15 pairs were lost before their first leg against Norwegian side, SK Brann Kvinner.

As per the likes of The Athletic and The Guardian‘s women’s football writer, Tom Garry, the majority of the players were left without anything to play in, resulting in the travelling squad having to go and buy replacements.

Citing Reuters as his primary source, Garry detailed how a bag containing several players’ boots disappeared during the journey to the game in Bergen on Thursday evening.

As a result, United are now investigating exactly how the boots went missing.

Marc Skinner’s side went on to lose the game by a single goal scored a quarter of an hour from the end in the third qualifying round, but remain confident they can turn the tide in the decisive knockout tie upon returning home to Leigh Sports Village on 18 September.

They are said to have arrived at a local shop, Torshov Sport, around three hours before kick-off (4:30pm local time), grabbing 15 pairs of boots and 20 sets of shin pads in total. Speaking to BBC Sport, owner Andre Gullord said they paid nearly £4,000 for the last-minute kit haul.

“We are a big store, but they were very lucky we had enough boots in stock that were the right size”, he said, adding that “they paid between £200 and £230 for each pair of boots and £30 for the shin guards.”

Quipping that they catered to the odd native player in the past but never a full team, he went on to joke: “Maybe we should have told them we only had boots with no studs to help the local team!”

It does give frantic pre-match Sunday league antics, doesn’t it?

Many supporters have found it hard to believe how a sporting organisation as huge as the Red Devils can find itself in such unlikely circumstances.

Then again, unexpected and as yet inexplicable stuff like this can happen to anyone – even a sporting franchise as established and well-staffed as Manchester United.

MUWFC chartered a group flight to the game this week after the club recently came under fire for leaving players to pay for their own travel back from their previous European fixture in Sweden at the start of the month.

It wasn’t all chaos and frustration, though; not only was it a record-breaking night in terms of attendance, but another plus was the midfield play from new signing Jess Park, who joined in a sensational swap deal with rivals Man City on deadline day. You can see the highlights from the game HERE.

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Featured Images — MUTV (screenshot via YouTube)/adidas/Manchester United (publicity pictures)

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