Latest news with #Southgate
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'There'd be an extra Bank Holiday and a dozen knighthoods if the boys won the Euros'
If the men's team had the success of England's Lionesses, there'd be a Bank Holiday and knighthoods, says Fleet Street Fox. No matter how many times you smash the patriarchy, there's always more of it The future king was there. Three Lions On A Shirt was belted out from the stands. And a clean sweep of newspaper front pages this morning, to be followed by an open-top bus parade through the capital city and a Downing Street reception. To many, those are all signs that women's football is now as beloved and celebrated as that played by men. And for the fans, that's absolutely true. But for the England Lionesses who swept to victory in the Euros for the second time in three years, it couldn't be more wrong. Because if it had been the Lions who'd lifted the cup - any cup, frankly, and just the once would do - there would be so much more. The actual King watching. A song of their own. A reception hosted by the Prime Minister, not his deputy. Newspaper front pages not just when they win, but when they marry, have babies, retire, or drink a yard of ale in a dentist's chair. And there'd be a bank holiday. No ifs or buts about the economic cost, because it would be as important a national event as the late Queen's Jubilee or the Coronation. Rachel Reeves would say "it's not like anyone will get any work done, so take the day and at least the pubs will be busy". It wouldn't be a dull Downing Street party if the men had won, in the same way you wouldn't have had to tell off Prince William in 2023 for not attending the World Cup finals. There'd be a drunken conga through the ballrooms of Buckingham Palace, and knighthoods would rain from the sky. The Lionesses have been honoured. And manager Sarina Wiegman is to be made an honorary dame. But here's what's really wonky: Gareth Southgate was knighted, and under him the Lions won rock all. At this point a (male) keyboard warrior will say that this is about demanding more for women when they already get plenty. Only Sarina's salary is about £400,000 with performance-related bonuses, and Southgate was on £5m for a performance that was nowhere near as good. It takes Harry Kane a week at Bayern Munich to earn what Sarina gets in a year, with none of the pressure or paperwork. There has been equal pay for Lions and Lionesses since 2020, all of them getting a nominal fee of £2,000 per match. For winning the Euros, the women also share 40% of the £4.3m prize pot, landing them another £75,000 each. But the prize pot for the men is FOUR TIMES that. At the World Cup in 2023 where the Lionesses got to the final, they shared £2.3m, which could have been £3.3m if they had won. By comparison the men's team pocketed £13.3m, and they were knocked out in the quarter-finals. When Southgate's team successfully shot some penalties, the nation decided it was down to the waistcoat and sales of three piece suits leapt. When Wiegman's team does better, and goes further, there is no such thing as a lucky hairband or sexy spectacles. Had the Lionesses lost, it would have been painted as a shameful defeat. When that happens to the men, over and over and over again, they're plucky British underdogs who won a moral victory. What men don't realise, and women everywhere do, is that as it is for the Lionesses so it is for the rest. The constant need to prove you're worth accepting even after you've been accepted, the lower pay and higher demands, the pats-on-the-head rather than pats-on-the-back. Even when they've smashed the patriarchy, taken back control of the game women have played for more than 2,000 years, made it more beautiful, less violent, and told a better story, it's still not enough to convince some fat desk jockey they're worth the sponsorship, salary and perks that men take as their due. Men who do worse. Men who play worse, achieve less, and get more praise and honour for what they can't do as well. It happens in every workplace, every classroom, every family home. Boys get told 'well done', and girls are told 'try again'. It's the same for actual lions, too - the men get the glorious mane, and wander up for first gnaw on the antelope after the women went to all the effort of killing it. There are just two perks women footballers have which the men don't. They're allowed to be gay, and they keep being given a damned good reason to go out and smash it again next week. Sport often leads the way in social change - women's football in Victorian England, the apartheid boycotts of the 1980s - so perhaps one day the Lionesses will have won enough that mums and dads, bosses and big brothers and HR directors, will all start treating males and females according to their successes, and not an outdated sense of social inferiority. Maybe it will take a Lionesses v Lions match to finally settle the point; I bet you the men would rather not. But don't worry too much about missing out on a Bank Holiday. Because if the Lions were playing last night, you still wouldn't have one.
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Sarina Wiegman faces her Cole Palmer-Ollie Watkins moment and the time is right to seize it
Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang made a compelling case to start for the Lionesses in the Euros final but England manager is unlikely to change what has somehow been a winning formula Almost certainly, Sarina Wiegman will again be recognised by our royal honours system if she leads England to victory in the final of the women's European Championship on Sunday. And even if the Lionesses lose, there is a decent chance Wiegman - who was made a CBE on the UK's overseas list after winning Euro 2022 - will be given an honorary damehood. After all, Gareth Southgate was knighted, having failed to actually win anything with England. So, any further honour for Wiegman would be well-deserved. But in any acceptance speech, she might want to thank one well-known member of sporting nobility, in particular. Lady Luck was on Wiegman's staff in Geneva on Tuesday night, that is for sure. Hannah Hampton was credited as making a game-saving stop in the second half but Italy's Emma Severini should have buried the chance. It was a shocking miss. To compound her misery, Severini then conceded the decisive penalty in extra-time for a challenge on Beth Mead that was thoroughly innocuous. Wiegman was fortunate in a manner similar to how Southgate was fortunate in the semi-final of Euro 2024 against the Netherlands. Harry Kane cancelled out the Xavi Simons strike with a spot-kick awarded by VAR and dubiously earned by the England skipper. There were other similarities, most notably the fact that Southgate made two late substitutions that paid a match-winning dividend. With 80 minutes gone, England were being pinned back by the Dutch and, quite frankly, hanging on to parity. Southgate sent on Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins, and the former provided the assist for the latter to score a sensational late winner. Such was their impact, there was a very minor clamour for Palmer and Watkins to start the final against Spain. It was only very minor because we all knew Southgate was risk-averse. Now, as the Lionesses head for the showdown - coincidentally, against Spain - in Basel, for Palmer and Watkins read Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang. Palmer and Watkins did not start against Spain in Berlin and England lost. Sure, Palmer equalised after coming on as a 70th minute substitute and Watkins was given half an hour to try and make an impact. But the pair were flying after their exploits against the Dutch and a brave coach might have tried to use that momentum, even if it meant upsetting established starters on the biggest of occasions. Of course, the argument goes that Kelly and Agyemang have shown themselves to be huge impact players when coming on from the bench. But that is a cop-out. Right at this moment, no attacking Lioness is playing as well as Kelly is, no-one looks as creative, no-one looks as incisive. And right at this moment, no attacking Lioness is as confident as Agyemang is, no-one looks as threatening. Had Southgate selected Palmer and Watkins, it would have been seen as an almighty gamble. But can picking players in the best form really be an almighty gamble? No. So, if Wiegman starts Kelly and Agyemang, it will not be an almighty gamble. At worst, it will be brave. And fortune favours the brave.
Scoop
5 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Hamilton, Waikato Joint Water Plan First To Be Approved
Hamilton City and Waikato District Councils are the first in the country to have a joint plan for the future of their communities' water services formally approved. The plan has been given the official tick by the Secretary for Local Government, Paul James. Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate and Waikato District Mayor Jacqui Church said formal approval cleared the way for much-needed increased investment in essential water infrastructure. That investment in shared water services is $3.6 billion over ten years. Management of, and responsibility for, this investment is transitioning to IAWAI - Flowing Waters, the councils' jointly owned company formed this month. The company will be fully operational from July 2026. The plan future-proofs the delivery of services for around 280,000 people through 91,000 connections across the two council areas. 'We are making a massive investment in core water infrastructure with 67% of that spend driven by growth. It is a stark illustration of the challenges 'growth councils' like ours face and it is critical to enable housing and businesses and ensure safe drinking water,' Mayor Southgate said. Church noted that over the next decade, the joint waters plan would respond to a predicted 22% increase in households or businesses needing water services. 'These core investments in infrastructure have been well signalled and planned and are already budgeted. Our new company structure will allow us to deliver a lot more in terms of critical water projects. Put simply, it means we can get more done faster, and for less,' Mayor Church said. Advertisement - scroll to continue reading All councils are required by the Government to submit Water Services Delivery Plans by early September. They must show how local authorities will deliver water services, meet environmental and health regulations, make the right investments at the right time, and secure enough revenue and debt to do the work planned. Plans must keep up with growth and be financially sustainable. Hamilton City and Waikato District Councils submitted their joint plan in early July. 'It was a huge amount of work for our staff to get a very comprehensive joint plan in for approval, very quickly. They did a fantastic job,' Mayor Southgate said. Church said councils had led 'proactively, with purpose and at pace'. 'There is a massive challenge ahead and we want IAWAI – Flowing Waters to hit the ground running and deliver for our communities.' Already both councils have delegated some strategic water projects to IAWAI - Flowing Waters. In June the councils announced the company's first ever Board of Directors. Former Wellington City Council chief executive Kevin Lavery was named Executive Chair with Tim Manukau (Tainui Waka) and former Watercare chief executive Dave Chambers making up a three-person Establishment Board. Lavery was appointed for two years and will effectively manage the company until a chief executive is appointed later this year. All waters activity across both councils, plus around 270 council staff, will be transferred to the company on 30 June next year. The Board of Directors, along with a small IAWAI establishment team largely made up of staff seconded from both councils were formally welcomed to their role with a poowhiri at the Waikato Endowed College this morning. The Water Services Delivery Plan can be viewed on the Waikato District and Hamilton City Council websites.
CTV News
20-07-2025
- CTV News
Fatal collision in Feversham kills two people
OPP logo with cruiser lights on in this undated file image. Thu., July 10, 2025. PHOTO: OPP A serious collision in Feversham resulted in two fatalities. Officers responded to a head-on collision at 10 a.m. in Feversham involving two pick-up trucks on Grey Road 31. Both drivers, a 22-year-old male from Southgate and a 59-year-old man from Clearview were killed. A passenger was brought to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The investigation remains ongoing, and police are for information or video footage from the public.
Scoop
16-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Iconic Hamilton Bridges Win Global Award
Press Release – Hamilton City Council The four-lane Te Ara Pekapeka Bridge, surrounding transport network, and the three waters infrastructure are all essential components ensuring the successful development of this area. Two Hamilton bridges have outshone competition from across the globe to win the prestigious Eugene C. Figg Jr. Medal at the International Bridge Conference Awards in Pittsburgh today (16 July NZST). The bridges, Te Ara Pekapeka and Taurapa, are not just impressive feats of engineering but vital infrastructure that connect the city, across the Waikato River, to the new growth area of Peacocke. The new neighbourhood will eventually be home to up to 20,000 Hamiltonians. Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate said this was justifiably a proud moment for Hamiltonians. 'We didn't build it to win an award, we built it to meet requirements to unlock land for growth and we worked side-by-side with Government to fund it and deliver it on time. 'This award recognises our approach. We involved the community, councillors, mana whenua, and government. This award isn't about steel or concrete, it's about people, it's about attitude and it's about a desire to deliver fantastic value.' The four-lane Te Ara Pekapeka Bridge, surrounding transport network, and the three waters infrastructure are all essential components ensuring the successful development of this area. 'The award is a bonus and should be celebrated.' Mayor Southgate said. Southern Links Tangata Whenua Working Group representative Marina Hape said the mahitahi (collaboration) with mana whenua had built an enduring relationship between Waikato-Tainui, hapuu and Council, far beyond the completion of the project. 'Mana whenua was on the journey right from the very early planning and had input into every area of the project. Our partnership is evident through design, but also in how the Maaori world view has delivered on our aspirations for Maaori, the environment and our wider community.' The annual International Bridge Conference awards medals to recognise individuals and projects of distinction. The last time a New Zealand bridge was recognised at the Conference was the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge in New Plymouth in 2011. This is the second time Te Ara Pekapeka Bridge has been recognised on an international stage in recent months, receiving a Special Mention at the Architizer A+ Awards in May. The project also took home national wins at the New Zealand Planning Institute Annual Awards and Apopo Asset Management Excellence Awards for leadership in the respective fields.
