This new gourmet burger joint combines Manchester’s two passions – food and football

If you love gourmet burgers as much as you love football then Players on Portland Street is a dead cert to take the title of your new favourite restaurant.

Much more than a typical burger diner, Players team unique creations with all your classic eating-out faves, in venues decked out with the world’s most desirable football memorabilia.

Manchester has long ruled the roost when it comes to the world’s top footballing cities (let’s ignore our neighbours at the other end of the A580 for now) plus the city has a growing reputation as a destination for food-lovers. But there hasn’t been a place that combines the two – until now.

Players, which will have a total of eight stores by early next year and is growing all the time,  provides the ultimate place to eat for football lovers who want something a cut above the typical terrace grub.

The menu is inventive and tailored around modern needs and desires, including plenty of healthy options for all you budding athletes, not to mention dazzling creations such as the Gold Medal Burger: an Aberdeen Angus beef burger wrapped in eye-catching edible gold leaf served on a black charcoal bun.

You won’t find that on the menu at your local late-night takeaway.

The menu is fully halal, making it accessible to all, with plenty of chicken choices and mouthwatering desserts that deserve 90 minutes all of their own.

The recently launched Champions League is a world-class cookie dough pudding, made up of crushed Biscoff pieces blended together with caramel and Biscoff sauce, with a final flourish of fresh cream; while the Rocher Victory Belgian waffle is a long-standing favourite, thanks to the winning combination of Ferrero Rocher, fresh strawberries, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

But it’s not just the well-designed dishes on the menu that make a visit to Players worth it – the atmosphere is up there with Old Trafford and the Etihad thanks to the football-themed decor.

Expect turf walls, plenty of big-name signed shirts (safely behind Perspex frames) and the kind of spirit you’d expect from the city at the centre of the footballing universe.

These family-friendly restaurants are the ideal places to take your little ones after a day running around the pitch.

Inspired by Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford’s recent hard work in feeding hungry children, the Manchester city centre branch is letting kids eat free between 11am and 2pm this half term.

As well as this city-centre restaurant (you’ll find it around the corner from Piccadilly Gardens), you can visit Players on Bury Old Road, just a short journey out of the centre in Cheetham Hill, plus a brand new diner is opening on Deansgate very soon.

Not only are these forward-thinking restaurants bringing quality food to the North-West, but they’re also creating countless jobs and supporting the Manchester community at a time when the city needs it most.

They will also be extending their opening times for delivery during the forthcoming lockdown to midnight, and there’s a special buy one get one free offer running with Uber Eats at their Manchester city centre store on Portland Street from 2nd – 14th November.

So why not make a special visit or place an order this week? No matter where your team is in the league, you deserve to treat yourself. Just don’t mention L*verpool.