England is once again on the verge of football greatness with the Lionesses storming through to the finals of the Women’s Euros.
We’ll be facing Germany at Wembley Stadium on Sunday after England defeated Sweden 4-0 in the semi-finals.
As with all great sporting events, the best place to soak up the atmosphere (without forking out for a ticket to the actual game) is going to be in one of Manchester’s many brilliant pubs.
Plenty of venues across the city centre will be wheeling out the bunting and the big screens for the occasion.
We’ve picked out some of the best and the biggest places to watch the Women’s Euro final.
The massive expanse of decking from the Christmas Markets has now been reimagined as a fan-zone for the Women’s Euros.
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Ahead of the big final, Manchester City Council is adding in a second screen and doubling the crowd capacity, with people admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Box
Manchester’s new-ish giant sports bar Box is, of course, screening the final this Sunday.
The huge venue has screens all over the place, so you’ll never be far from the action if you pick the Deansgate bar to watch the Women’s Euro final.
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Escape to Freight Island
The massive screen at Escape to Freight Island will be taken over by the footie this weekend.
The huge street food venue near Piccadilly will show the match at the Platform space, with free tables available to book here.
Electrik Bar, Chorlton
You can watch the Lionesses bring it home over in Chorlton at beloved neighbourhood spot Electrik Bar.
The space is headed up by the Unabombers, aka Luke Cowdrey and Justin Crawford and will serve up Four Side Vegan Pizza, beers and ales, and cocktails alongside all the action.
Pen & Pencil
The Northern Quarter’s Pen & Pencil is going to have the Women’s Euros final on its big screen too.
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Perfect if you fancy sipping cocktails instead of pints while you watch the footie (though there are PLENTY of pints on offer too.
The Brotherhood
The Brotherhood will screen the Women’s Euro final. Credit: The Manc Group
The Brotherhood is rebranding itself as The Sisterhood this summer in its commitment to celebrate women’s sport.
The sports bar, which is female-owned, will be screening the game right through its bars in Manchester and Leeds.
Common
Nell’s at Kampus has been one of our go-tos for the Women’s Euro games up to now, but it’s closed this Sunday for a private event – so it’s over to their sister site at Common we go!
Kick off is at 5pm in the Kestrel Suite. You can book, but walk ups will be available too.
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Grub
You can watch the Women’s Euro final at Grub’s in-house cinema.
The lovely people at Grub will be handing their cinema space over to football fans this weekend.
You can watch England vs Germany next to a fully-stocked bar, with ace street food downstairs.
Featured image: Arc Inspirations / England Football
What's On
Manchester favourites hosting a heartwarming festive social for those alone this Christmas
Danny Jones
Beloved Manchester bar and cafe, Haunt, have announced that they will be hosting a special social to spread some much-needed seasonal cheer to those who are spending Christmas apart from their families and/or friends this year.
Wholesome stuff from a wholesome bunch.
That’s right, friendly neighbourhood ghosts Haunt will be putting on a little free shindig for the 2025 festive period in an effort not only to share the typical kindness with locals based in and around the city centre but to help create “a sense of community, no matter what your situation”.
Announcing the completely open-to-the-public Christmas Eve party over the weekend, the team are looking to provide those who might otherwise be lonely or struggle during the holidays with a warm, arms-wide welcome, plus plenty more.
Writing on their social media account this past Sunday, bar manager JJ said: “People, it’s time to connect this Christmas! We will be providing free coffee and sweet treats from 12-5pm on Christmas Eve, as well as some games and workshops.
“We’ve put a lot of work into this, so it would be amazing to see as many of you there as possible! Also need this to reach the people that need an event like this most, so please share and repost.
“As always, look out for your people, I wouldn’t be anywhere without mine – JJ xoxo”
Come on, who doesn’t love seeing heartwarming stuff like this on their feed, especially when it comes to a time of year where so many suffer quietly amid the majority having a good time?
This isn’t the first time they’ve held a pop-up that’s caught our attention in 2025, either; it was only last month that we were surprised to stumble on a mini padel court in the middle of the room.
Once again, there’ll be brews and fresh bakes, as well as plenty of other activities to keep people entertained on the night.
As described in their post, Christmas can be tough for a lot of people, and if they can make even just one person looking for some kindness and companionship feel better for a few hours this year, then they’ll have done above and beyond their job.
It goes without saying that we love seeing local businesses taking the social and community side of their work like this to heart and putting in serious effort to make a difference.
Well done to JJ, the Chosen Family support group, and everyone at Haunt for setting this up; if you know anyone who might be interested in coming along, please do pass on the information.
You can grab your free tickets via Eventbrite right HERE, and maybe we’ll see some of you there.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Haunt (via Instagram)
What's On
The full lineup for the Strictly Live tour has been revealed
Danny Jones
Yes, ballroom lovers, it’s here: the full lineup of dancers for the ‘Strictly Come Dancing Live’ tour has finally and officially been revealed.
It feels like fans have been waiting ages to find out the entire roster for the Strictly Live tour next year, with only limited waves having been released thus far.
However, the patience has paid off, and we now know who’ll be starring both on the stage and on down on the floors of some of Britain’s most beloved venues, including our very own AO Arena.
You can see the latest raft of additions down below.
As you can see, the final four couples who complete the next Strictly Live tour lineup for 2026 are social media personality George Clarke, Emmerdale face Lewis Cope, former footballer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and another actor in Layton Williams.
This quality quartet will be paired up with Alexis Warr, Katya Jones, Lauren Oakley and Nikita Kuzmin, respectively; it has already been confirmed that much-loved trio Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood will be returning as judges, with Janette Manrara remaining as host.
Strictly‘s still ongoing season – the 23rd in the show’s history – is due to conclude this weekend, following the final on Saturday night (20 December), and it remains to be seen which of the current cast will be crowned champion, with several of those above and below now signed up for the live tour.
The rest of the Strictly Live dancers for 2026 here:
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey aka ‘Nitro’
Alex Kingston
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Balvinder Sopal
George Clarke
La Voix
Chris Robshaw
Ellie Goldstein
Thomas Skinner
Vicky Pattison
Stefan Dennis
Ross King
Karen Carney
Lewis Cope
Amber Davies
It isn’t guaranteed that each of these contestants will be taking part in EVERY single one of the tour dates, but either way, you’ve still got ‘The Professionals’ to come next spring, too.
The annual Strictly Come Dancing UK tour has become a firm fan favourite, not only among die-hard viewers of the BBC show but lovers of live entertainment in general.
Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and others confirmed the dates for their live shows earlier this year, with the AO set to host the two days’ worth of moves across Saturday, 31 January and Sunday, 1 February.
Hosting both normal evening shows as well as matinee slots, it’s simply up to you at what time of day you fancy panto-booing Craig…
If you’re interested in securing tickets for the typically fabulous festivals, you can grab yours HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
29th July 2022 
