The tournament hasn’t even started yet but you can consider our excitement well and truly through the roof because we can now confirm that Road to Victory, the hugely successful fan zone which debuted at the 2022 World Cup, is coming back to Manchester for Euro 2024.
Presented by entertainment pioneers AIX Live – ‘amplified immersive experience’ – Road to Victory (Rtv) first landed at Depot Mayfield for its maiden tournament but now the huge fan park is making its much-anticipated return at a brand new venue just down the road.
Set to take over popular beer garden and food hall Diecast for the first time, RtV is set to welcome around 3,000 fans for every Euros match and will be screening every England game for as long as we stay in the tournament.
And it all kicks off with the Three Lions‘ opener against Serbia on 16 June, which starts at 8pm but don’t worry, the party will already be in full swing hours before then.
Diecast is set to transform into a massive fan zone for Euro 2024. (Credit: Road to Victory)
With over 30,000 square feet of Euros action, including space for up to 2,500 standing fans in the sprawling Brooklyn Beer Hall, multiple screens and one large festival LED screen, this place is going to be absolutely bouncing.
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They make sure of that too, creating an incredible atmosphere with a fully immersive light show, making the entire venue light up yellow or red as corresponding coloured cards are given out and other big match moments (hopefully lots of goals), as well plenty of music, cheering and chants throughout.
Pre and post-match entertainment is great too, with DJs from start to finish, live on-stage hosts hyping up the crowd, quizzes, special guests, competitions and much, much more.
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The Road to Victory team has fine-tuned the experience since their inaugural event in 2022 and given how electric the crowd was back then, we can only imagine how good this summer is going to be.
The venue will open 2 hours before KO and the events are strictly 18+ because yes, there will be plenty of pints.
With Diecast‘s unreal food menu also on offer, you’ll be just as sorted for scran as you are the sport. They’ll be serving up their famous ‘NeoPan’ (Neapolitan meets NYC) style pizzas in various flavours, as well as other easy picky bits like their tater tots straight from the Ramona and Firehouse kitchen.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for hospitality packages – which include one pizza per person, sharing tots, plus table service with ice cold beers to your table for up to eight people per booking – they’ll set you back just £20, or you can enquire about larger booking by emailing [email protected].
Fans are also being encouraged to keep an eye on Road to Victory and Diecast social media channels for further booking links and updates ahead of each game. Let’s hope to see more scenes like this next month. It’s coming home.
Two Manchester Basketball players have been named in the SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26
Danny Jones
A pair of Manchester Basketball players have been named in the latest SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26.
The most recent UK Super League Basketball (SLB) campaign is set to wrap up this month, with the playoffs taking place down in the capital, but there are other awards to be handed out before then.
It remains to be seen how ‘The Final Four’ phase will play out at The O2 in London on 17 May, but we can definitely take joy in moments like this.
Announced on Thursday, 7 May, Manchester Basketball confirmed that duo Max Jones and Jordan Johnson have joined the rest of the league’s roster of the best players this term.
As detailed on the club website, “Max has averaged 17.4 points in the SLB in 32 games – he’s been a starter for the franchise and was also named in the ENBL All-Star Five in Germany last month.
“Jordan averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 assists in 30 games in the SLB, had a stellar European campaign and hit 30 pts in just over 27 minutes in the SLB Cup Final.”
Commenting on social media, one fan wrote: “Both JJ and PJ have been so great at the PG spot all year. I feel this is a joint award for them both, but they can only fill one spot for the accolade. If we wanna be a serious club to build upon year on year, JJ also needs to be in an MCR jersey next year.
“We absolutely have the pieces to build around. JJ’s nerve is sooooo cool under pressure. You can just tell they wanna loft a meaningful trophy, and it’s gonna happen if we as a club plan and build the way we need to.”
Plenty of supporters have also stressed the importance of making sure that the board tie down the likes of Jones and other big talents this summer; the rest of the Molten All-League Team of the Season for 2025/26 can be found below.
It’s also worth noting that teammate Tim Adetukasi and women’s team star Irene Oboavwoduo have each been named in the SLB’s British Team of the Year in their respective divisions for 2026.
Writing in a club statement reflecting on a great week of recognition for the resurgent club, General Manager Dominique Allen said: “We are really proud to be a club flying the flag for British players.
Both Tim and Irene have made a real impact on and off the court. We’re really happy for both of them that they are getting some well-deserved recognition.”
Well done to all the MCR stars who are helping get the franchise back on its feet following such a major rebrand across the board.
Here’s looking forward to another promising and productive year for Manchester Basketball.
Manchester City win first Women’s Super League title in a decade
Danny Jones
After a decade of hope and hard work, Manchester City have finally won the Women’s Super League once again in a huge moment for the local club.
Lifting not just their first division title in 10 years, but only their second WSL trophy since the modern female football era began in 2010, it felt like only a matter of time to many supporters.
Ending a six-year Chelsea supremacy, this is also manager Andrée Jeglertz’s first at the helm of Man City’s women’s team, who arrived at the club with a strong silverware record at the start of this season.
These were the scenes at home base as one key result sealed their status as champions:
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 6, 2026
City Women secured the WSL title following third-placed Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brighton on Wednesday evening.
They even managed to do so with a game to spare and a six-point gap over the west London club, which has won so much over the past few years.
Speaking in an interview with club media after confirmation of the win, captain and Euro 2025-winning Lionesses defender, Alex Greenwood, said: “[It feels] absolutely incredible. “A moment – we as a team, me personally – us as a club has waited so long for”.
“An incredible moment, it’s an incredible feeling. I’m so glad we got to spend this moment together as a group. Just an absolutely incredible feeling.”
With fans watching both at home, along with the first team themselves, the celebrations have already begun as the team shared a look back at how they got here.
You can see the recap posted on social media in full below.
Commenting on his latest accolade, the Swedish head coach added in a full club statement: “There’s never been doubt about the talent in the group, but there is something else about talking about being winners and champions. We started that early, and we believed in that. That’s led us through this year.
“It hasn’t been easy; it’s been hard work every day, but we had a strong belief that we could be sitting here in May and be champions. That is the first thing, and we definitely deserve it.”
Congratulations to the Cityzens on a well-deserved and long-awaited WSL title; could this be the start of another sporting dynasty of dominance over in East Manchester? Only time will tell…
In other news around the Etihad Campus, the women’s, EDS and academy team stadium is also set to host the final of the FA Youth Cup later this month.
Danny Jones -
23rd May 2024 
