Historic rivalries to be renewed in new international athletics fixture
Home country rivalries will be renewed when England take on Scotland, Wales, a GB Under 20 team, and UK Armed Forces in a new match that takes place on 17 August.
A combined British Athletics League and UK Women’s League will also contest the fixture at the Manchester Regional Arena and they will be announcing their selection policy soon. As well as being able to watch the match there will be a village area open to the public, including a pop-up arena, to provide a range of athletics activities and a Tom Pinks Relays Event will be held on the track during the afternoon for 11 to 13 year olds.
Head of Coaching and Athlete Development Martin Rush said, “Representing your country is always a great honour, but there is something very special about any sporting international between home countries. We are delighted that we will be able to offer athletes this opportunity this summer.
“We know our athletes will take advantage of this occasion to show what they are capable of and that the other teams will be giving us a great competition. We would like to thank Manchester City Council for their support in the hosting of this event.”
Rodger Harkins, Director of Coaching with scottishathletics added, “We look forward to taking a Scotland team south in August for the Manchester International match. It is another opportunity for athletes to compete at international level and it comes at a stage of the track and field season when athletics and coaches should be targeting best performances.
“Of course, Scotland selection is linked to performance at the Scottish Seniors at Grangemouth the weekend before. Event winners will be picked for Manchester and hopefully that gives an added incentive for our best athletes to compete in the Scottish Seniors (if available) in order to earn that representative honour.”
England Athletics selection is linked to performance at the England Senior Championships at Bedford the weekend of 30-31st July. Event winners will be picked for Manchester International which hopefully gives an added incentive for our best athletes to compete at the Championships (if available) in order to earn that representative honour.
Given the statements above, selection will be made from consideration of;
- Winner of the England Athletics Senior Championships will be selected
- Performance at the England Athletics Senior Championships
- Performance at the EA Under 23 Championships
- Power of 10 rankings
Selection is currently planned for Tuesday 2nd August.
Tickets for the Manchester International
Tickets are now on sale for the Manchester International athletics match which will take place from 4.45pm on Wednesday 17th August at the Manchester Regional Arena, Sportcity.
It’s your chance to watch some great athletics action!
Tickets for Adults are £5, with accompanied children free of charge.
Click here to buy your tickets online from the Ticketweb website
