Like a lot of us over this past year, Becky Kay had celebrations planned for her birthday that sadly had to be put on hold.
She usually likes to spend her special day relaxing with an overnight stay at a spa hotel.
Free bubbly on arrival, complementary chocolates on the pillows, a wealth of treatments and massages available to choose from, all followed by a three-course meal and room service throughout her entire stay, is something she was understandably looking forward to – especially as an NHS staff member, who has worked throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
But with England firmly within its third national lockdown, the public advised to “stay at home”, and spa facilities told to close their doors because of this, that unfortunately couldn’t be her reality this year.
So her three daughters hatched a plan instead.
In a bid to make sure her birthday didn’t pass by unmarked, Becky’s daughters – Molly, Lola, and Scarlet – decided to secretly transform their Salford home into ‘The Kay Hotel & Spa’ as a surprise, so Becky could still celebrate her big day in the way she knows best.
And judging by the photos shared by the girls’ father, Stevie, to social media yesterday, they really put a lot of time and hard work into bringing it all together.
“[The girls] have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks, as we usually spend a night at a spa hotel every year for Becky’s birthday.
“[And] our eldest, Molly, did most of the planning over the last week.
“She wrote me a list of everything we needed, and I sneaked out to get it all the day before”.
The Costa del Salford’s aptly-named ‘The Kay Hotel & Spa’ – which we have also been told has an impressive “5* rating on TripAdvisor” – is home to everything you could ask for from a spa getaway, with its very own reception area, room key cards, hospitality menus, complementary room service, massage and facial facilities, candle-lit bathtubs, and more.
Becky and Stevie didn’t even have to move a muscle either, as the three sisters were happy to wait on them hand and foot throughout their ‘stay’.
He continued: “It [certainly] made my life planning Becky’s birthday very easy”.
How brilliant is all of this?
While you unfortunately won’t be able to make reservations for your own stay at the exclusive ‘The Kay Hotel & Spa’ any time soon, you can still check out all the photos of the venue on Facebook here.
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Kalvin Phillips is reportedly set to be reintegrated into the Manchester City squad
Danny Jones
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?
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Kalvin Phillips has chance to resurrect career at the Etihad Stadium after failed loan spells with Ipswich and West Ham
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?
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
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.
Manchester United were defeated 1-0 by Brann in the Women’s Champions League third qualifying round on Thursday after some of the squad’s football boots were lost on the way to Norway.
During the side's journey to the city of Bergen, where Brann are based, for the first leg of… pic.twitter.com/NjyaalHinJ
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?
city not getting bunnys visa, our plane catching on fire and united boots going missing oh i love the chaos of wsl in the uwcl https://t.co/mNTh83p0av
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.
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.
🙌 16,019 at Brann Stadion 🇳🇴
A new attendance record for women’s football in Norway and for any UEFA women’s club qualifier 🤩#UWCLpic.twitter.com/YtlScWXewt
Emily Sergeant -
4th February 2021 
