I saw how close Andy Burnham was to Man City while mayor – his defence of sportswashing totally fails to read the room

THE BEETHAM Tower, once Manchester’s tallest skyscraper, was an appropriate venue for the towering presence of Vincent Kompany to host the city’s mayor..

In February 2019, captain Kompany organised a dinner at the tower’s Hilton hotel to combat homelessness in Manchester.

The bash was replete with red carpet arrivals, a set and even the manager.

was still unbeaten as caretaker, but put rivalries aside to attend the evening with his assistant .

This correspondent, working for the Manchester Evening News at the time, arrived early to doorstep Solskjaer on the off-chance he would offer a few words about the upcoming Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain. Predictably, he politely declined.

and players , Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden, Ederson, Fernandinho and a fashionably late Sergio Aguero were all present. So were Ricky Hatton, Mani from Stone Roses and Bez from Happy Mondays.

The only eventful moment from recollection was when City’s head of security, Barry South, queried my presence in the lobby. After a conflab with a PR, that was resolved and we shook hands.

Seven-and-a-half years on, the recollections of the City-heavy bash are how the then-champions’ owners had ingratiated themselves with the city.

The event was held three months after Der Spiegel published documents of City’s alleged book-cooking. That was the furthest thought on anyone’s minds.

Manchester mayor posed with Kompany on the red carpet and spoke at the dinner, where was one of the comperes.

Burnham also gave a speech: “We want this to be a place that catches people when they fall.”

Nearly a quarter of a million pounds was raised at the dinner, with proceeds going to Burnham’s Bed Every Night homelessness scheme.

The money generated from tables, an auction and other initiatives at the dinner generated £216,000 alone. Kompany, who left City in May 2019, also had a testimonial match at the Etihad in September to raise more funds for Tackle 4 MCR.

At the testimonial, Burnham was in conversation with City chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak.

In October 2019, Burnham presented an award to Kompany as special recognition for his contribution to North West sport and humanitarianism.

It is such worthy causes as Kompany’s (which Burnham donated 15 per cent of his monthly mayoral salary to) that doubtless influenced Burnham’s Jamie Pollock-style own goal on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister said he was .

The short version of Burnham’s defence was, essentially, sportswashing is okay. City’s owners had regenerated east Manchester and ploughed billions into the city.

Burnham did not read the room. The Premier League commission found that City cheated the Premier League’s rules.

Beyond that, Abu Dhabi was described by Amnesty International as “one of the most brutal police states in the Middle East”. The prospect of Qatari ownership in 2023 reviled many United supporters due to the country’s human rights abuses.

But Manchester sold itself down the river years ago. In 2014, City owner and Manchester council struck a £1billion agreement to build 6,000 new homes.

The Hilton dinner featured heavily in one of the episodes of the four-part BBC documentary series Manctopia: Billion Pound Property Boom.

Earlier this year, Burnham bragged Manchester was “the fastest-growing city in the UK”.

He endorsed a piece in April titled ‘The city that proves Britain is not broken’, penned by a City supporter.

Burnham, who came into office as mayor in 2017, has straddled the line between earthiness and elitism for decades but is starting to wobble. His stint as Manchester mayor occasionally descended into tribalism.

Weeks before the Kompany dinner, Burnham admitted he was relieved that sacked Jose Mourinho in December 2018. had repeatedly highlighted Manchester’s infuriating traffic amid United’s matchday travelling issues.

“He had begun to pass comment every week on transport and the roadworks and that was beginning to get national attention,” Burnham complained.

“If it becomes reputational that we have a transport problem in the city that could become detrimental to potential investors from coming here.

“And that’s very serious actually.”

Burnham accepted the Mayor Quimby impression was a “poor joke”. It was an early indicator his lifelong blue allegiance to Everton extended to his adopted city.

He eventually redressed that, trumpeting Cristiano Ronaldo’s homecoming and congratulating City on their maiden Champions League triumph. Burnham met United supporters and City supporters concerning heavy-handed treatment they suffered at European away games.

When outlined his , Burnham conceded he risked alienating City supporters by cosying up to the British billionaire.

Burnham met Ratcliffe at Old Trafford before his minority stake had been confirmed in late February 2024. They reunited at Old Trafford three months later for additional discussions on the planned 100,000-seater stadium .

City have always had the tighter bond with Burnham. Guardiola’s longevity and the distance of the despised Glazer family – who have not invested a penny into United – made that inevitable. Championing a city’s football team’s success is standard mayor fare. Burnham congratulated United on their two triumphs.

He was at the University of Manchester when Guardiola received an honorary degree and lauded his “loyalty and incredible contribution to City and our city-region”.

Burnham should empathise with the majority of United supporters who ardently hoped Liverpool would not win the Premier League title in 2014 and 2022.

City was always the more palatable option. It was silverware but it was hollow, as United fans have chanted about Chelsea’s success.

Kompany’s most meaningful legacy in Manchester was off the pitch, not on it.