Watch Point. Free Outdoor Sports Screenings in Manchester.

England might be out but Murray is still in. Matthew Hull reckons it’s worth catching the last of the sporting action at the giant outdoor screens in Spinningfields and Castlefield

Each summer, as the rain lets up for a few days and the air buzzes with the chimes of a thousand ice cream vans, I am filled with a hazy delusion that this year I will take up tennis. I imagine donning a set of whites and getting in a couple bracing innings or sets before cooling down with some strawberries and cream, and maybe a glass or two of Pimms. The reality tends to be a single embarrassing defeat on the public courts before I collapse, sweaty and breathless, in the shade of the closest beer garden. Better to sit back and let the professionals take care of it, I say, and luckily Manchester is host to all manner of venues where you can watch the best of the summer of sport in the open air.

The diary of film events at Screenfields this year, which has included such varied cinematic fare as chick-flick megalith Dirty Dancing and the Ian Curtis biopic Control, has been hugely popular, with attendances more than doubling since last year. As Kelly Briggs, a spokesperson for Spinningfields, asserts, there is more to the Screenfields schedule than just the Thursday night movie screenings. ‘We will be showing fixtures from the World Cup group stages as well as live matches from Wimbledon and F1 coverage, and all free and unticketed. It’s a really relaxed environment to take a break and catch some sporting action,’ she says. After heading down to the screen to watch the Portugal Vs North Korea game, I can attest that the atmosphere is laid-back and friendly, as shoppers downed bags and workers from nearby offices paused mid-lunch break to catch the seven goals to nil thrashing of Kim Jong-Il’s plucky underdogs (a beating which we are told will not be replayed when the players return home). Now that the Wimbledon screenings have begun, I will be sleeping in one of the fetching yellow deckchairs for the remainder of the tournament, although I will definitely be avoiding the accompanying screening of the Woody Allen directed foul-ball that is Match Point (on tonight).

The mood has been somewhat less convivial at the much vaunted Hyundai Fan Park in Castlefield, particularly after the England Vs USA group round match, at which there was a handful of arrests. At locally neutral matches though, and probably more generally now that England is out, there will be less of the lairiness that characterised the first England fixture and in contrast with the relaxed Screenfields (which hasn’t shown England matches), the Fan Park is a lively experience; it’s still a World Cup experience that comes about as close to being there as you’re likely to get without stacks of cash and a few dozen big favours to call in.

Whether you spend a lazy afternoon watching sets from centre court or cheering on other country’s teams in South Africa, remember to behave responsibly. By which, of course, I mean that you should leave that vuvuzela at home. Seriously – I hear them in my sleep.

Screenfields, Spinningfields, World Cup group stages until June 25 and Wimbledon from June 26, entry free. Hyundai Fan Park, Castlefield. 11 June to 11 July. Free. Images: courtesy Spinningfields.

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