Like a Musician's Football Movie...
Soccer Six Fest is real life being unreal, positively.
Photo diary by Dizzy Spell of the first Manchester #SoccerSixFest
HUMZ gets that Soccer Six Fam Feeling!
Hallo Manchester. MIMOSA and friends have come to ROCK the pitch and the stage!
Soccer Six. A famed event.
The extended family of musicians and other celebrities who have played football, played music (or both!) and or cheered in the supporters stands, over the years is inclusive and extending.
The return of 2022 SoccerSix fam - MUDDY ELEPHANT!
Picture the scenes when the CUP (Creativity Uniting People) travelling circus of Soccer Six landed in Belle Vue, Manchester for the mid July weekend.
Hundreds of good sports wearing the word LOVE, for a start! #LoveFootball - that is!
MARK ‘ABES’ ABERY, head of Soccer Six with Man Of The Match, SCRUFF OF THE NECK’s MARK LIPPMAN
From Glasgow to Manchester via London!
Post lockdown, CUP Soccer Six returned in Winter 2021 with Game Of History at Cop 26 (Hamilton FC ground) , with the environment and youth’s climate anxiety in it’s roots and Professor Mark Maslen as part of the soccer six team.
Building in 2022 with emerging guitar bands as the focus of Summer’s Soccer Six Fest in Mile End Stadium before Autumn’s Inner City World Cup (hallo, Belle Vue!) with ace ambassadors from the world of music: (alphabetically) Abbie McCarthy, Katie Owen, Louise Schofield, Megan Wyn and Rowetta, now in the mix.
The up and coming bands who star on the grassroots circuit are key. One of the 2023 Soccer Six bands, Noah and the Loners, called in while on their UK tour with Music Venue Trust and the National Lottery. Their manager, Kelly Munro (End Of The Trail Creative) was on the pitch, too!
LOUISE SCHOFIELD and MEGAN WYN
If feels like 2023 was always MEANT to be.
SAM MCLAUGHLIN
From the Thursday evening launch and match draws at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium to the final whistle and medals/cups awards on Sunday, the weekend felt like one great big celebration.
Just ask multi-talent and social media ace, Humz, who played the Inner City World Cup in October (his team, Pakistan, won) - between then, meeting Soccer Six head, Mark Abery and what happened after that, well, let him show you
“Best weekend of my life by a long stretch. This is why football is greatest sport on Earth. So grateful for the organisers of @LovefootballOfficial & @SoccerSixOfficial for giving me these opportunities. Alhamdulillah”
Watch this fantastic true tale unfold in 3 minutes
via @HumzyD tiktok
“I never thought I’d be playing my first live gig in football kit” (HUMZ - his team, Scruff Of The Neck, were Music Industry Champions 2023!)
A wealth of backgrounds. Women’s games. Rock bands. All generations. Manchester, you BEAUTY.
Alternative convention including End Of The Trail, Fatsoma, Louder Than War Radio, Scruff Of The Neck, XS Manchester Radio, Spill The Sound, The Yard Film and Scotson Audio alongside exciting musicians and their crews, having fun and games.
TheZineUK’s “Soccer Six Fest” Spotify playlist featured this year’s bands and soundtracked Belle Vue.
TheZineUK recently premiered the video for ‘When Life’s Thunder Striking’ by ROLLA - now here they are in the flesh, winning yet again.
The future’s all the better for it.
This was positively inspiring. Manc Soccer Six needs to happen again.
JACE CAMPBELL “Amazing day playing for @xsmanc met some great people and a few familiar faces 🙌 Until next year🔥”
TheZineUK has reported from a few of these gatherings, this felt especially like the right tournament location.
Yes, da REFEREES
A skeleton team multi-tasked including ordering (collecting and delivering) the individual team kits, scheduling the matches and referees, administration and reception, liasing with the venue/players, programming a herding-kittens-time-line of live appearances and sharing tournament silverware.
Everybody in the place was a winner though. A part of the city’s music AND football history.
COBAIN JONES - stunning live show at #SoccerSixFest
With all the good vibrations in the place, it was a triumph added to an already rich heritage.
XS MANCHESTER is a key radio station for emerging artists. In the centre back of their team is one of them, JACE CAMPBELL, and in the centre front is another, ALEX SPENCER. Both of them performed live on the #SoccerSixFest stage. Captain, JIM SALVESON (in front of The Pit Bay sign) is much respected by the bands. SHADE for instance (who were also on the pitch, that day)
Kudos to all the event supporters:
A different kind of day outdoors for music fans who had travelled to Manchester for #SoccerSixFest - hanging out with bands playing football then live music at ‘Extra Time’!
Additionally, there were some high profile attendees;
"Proud Mancunian" Yasmine Dar has become the first Asian woman to become Manchester's Lord Mayor - BBC News, May 2023. In July, The Mayor attended and spoke at the Women’s Football Matches.
Also at Belle Vue/on the pitch etc: Angela Raynor, Deputy Head of The Labour Party and music promoting Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham - plus various local councillors who attended the weekend in support.
Encouragement for all the players and organisers.
Additional amazement via artists, anecdotes - and actual freaking magick - every time.
SCRUFF OF THE NECK - champions. Alex Spencer’s little bruv, Luca, and his dad, Brad, were originally at Belle Vue to catch him playing football then performing live. In the way that Soccer Six goes, they ended up as part of a winning team!
The thing is, it was also a line up of happening artists brought together. The “emerging artists” thing is 4REAL going next level. Watch.
THE BRACKNALL - now have an Ultra Team. Find out…
Some like MEGAN WYN, SHADE, THE BRACKNALL and ROLLA played mainstream music festivals, since and Soccer Six/Spill The Sound presenter, LOUISE SCHOFIELD has DJ’d a few! Others have key events to come. Respect to the industry’s crew players, too.
Women are shaping the newer wave of music industrious. Like ELLIS MCARTHUR, manager of THE BRACKNALL.
For now, it’s ace to see this tournament regrow, like most of our favourite artists, from grass roots upwards.
MIMOSA - a rock n roll band whose fans cut some of the best shapes you’ve seen on a gig dance floor. Fact.
The CUP Soccer Six Manchester 2023 tournament - really was like a musician’s football movie…
1:02 of clips from that weekend in Manchester
@TheZine.UK Tik Tok
The (very) up and coming ALEX SPENCER (with WILL HARVEY on drums).
Watch CUP SOCCER SIX for what’s next: https://linktr.ee/soccersix
Now go find all the artists who are part of this and follow their stories. Make a fantasy festival league for 2024 - let us know how you get on!
Additional words, Caffy, TheZineUK Events Department.