My husband Jamie turned forty a few weeks ago and so to finish off his month of mammoth birthday celebrations, I took him to Manchester for the night with Thomas Cook Sport.

It was a very rare night away from the kids for us, in fact I think it’s probably the first night away we’ve had just the two of us in over three years, so it’s fair to say it was quite a treat for both of us, but particularly Jamie who is a big football fan.

Thomas Cook Sport kindly offered to send us on one of their football sport packages which included two tickets for a football match and a night at a hotel and thankfully – as it was a final birthday surprise for Jamie – it didn’t disappoint.

There are all kinds of sport packages you can choose from on the Thomas Cook Sport website which is just genius in my humble opinion. All you need to do is choose which sporting event you’d like to book, check the dates and then build your ticket and hotel break in accordance with your budget, leaving all of the organising up to them! What’s more, there’s even the option to include extras such as buying a match programme or having a tour of a stadium. Brilliant ey?

It’s such a good idea and I have to say personally I think it is the perfect gift for those people, particularly men who can be incredibly tricky to buy for. So good in fact that I’m already considering it for my Dad’s upcoming big birthday in just over a year’s time!

Being an original Manchester girl and with Jamie being a long Manchester United fan, I opted for us to go and watch the Red Devils play Everton on a Sunday afternoon and stay overnight in the city  – still one of my favourites in the world – at a local hotel on the Sunday evening. Jamie had no idea we were going until just a few days before so it was a great final birthday surprise for him and as birthday outings go, I think for him, it was pretty near perfection.

We kicked off (pardon the pun) our night away with a visit to Old Trafford to watch Manchester United and thankfully for us, although a little chilly as you’d expect at this time of year, the sun shone on a lovely autumnal day.

We’ve both been to the stadium before so knew what to expect but there’s still something so magical about this ground. As we mingled with the thousands of expectant and giddy fans, you could really feel the excitement in the air and after a quick burger and chips – a necessary pit stop – we entered the ground to watch the game.

The game itself thankfully went in our favour, with Manchester United beating Everton 2-1 and we had such a great time, even me whose not really a football fan per se! Our seats in Tier 2 of the Alex Ferguson stand were in a good position conveniently seated with a great view of one of the goals, which meant we got to see lots of action and as it was Jamie’s 40th he also got a few extra surprises too.

Prior to us going I’d contacted the club directly to see if it would be possible for them to include a birthday message to him in the match day programme and on the announcement board and quite astonishingly they did both, much to his utter surprise and amusement, which just made the match that extra bit special.

Here he is in the programme…

After the game we hotfooted it back into the city and checked into our hotel for the night, the lovely, modern and conveniently located Park Inn by Radisson. The hotel itself is contemporary in style and perfectly positioned for a stay in the city centre, located just a few mins walk from Victoria Train Station and a large car park.

It’s not the flashiest of hotels in the city centre but it’s certainly comfortable, looks great and provides a good, friendly service. It’s also a great base from which to explore the city.

Our room was spacious and incredibly pleasant, with a large king size bed and all the mod cons you’d expect from a decent hotel such as tea and coffee making facilities and a decent TV. Just the place to get our heads down for the night.

As the game finished quite late, we had a quick change in our room and ventured out to make the most of our night away.

We headed over to Spinningfields and enjoyed a well deserved couple of drinks before I took the birthday boy to the fabulous Tattu restaurant for some delicious Chinese food, where funnily enough we spotted one of the Manchester United players we’d seen earlier in the day enjoying himself with friends. (It’s not a proper night out in Manchester unless you spot a footballer or two!)

After a comfortable night’s sleep, we enjoyed a tasty breakfast in the hotel and our last hour or so of ‘freedom’ before heading back across the pennines to pick the kids up from their grandmas, who’d had a lovely time and hadn’t missed us nowhere near as much as we’d missed them!

We absolutely loved our night away with Thomas Cook Sport. It was such a treat for both of us, but especially Jamie, who had the best football experience, thanks to the excellent planning of the Thomas Cook Sport team and the kindness of the staff at Manchester United.

Everything was so easy, effortless in fact, which was so refreshing and certainly helped to make our day more enjoyable. Would we do it again? You betcha.

If you’re looking for the perfect birthday or Christmas gift for a sports fan, then do check out the Thomas Cook Sport packages. Not only will it make your life a whole lot easier ( I wish I’d known about their service years ago!) you’ll also put a big smile on a special someone’s face.

Huge thanks to Thomas Cook Sport for kindly sending us and helping to make Jamie’s big 4-0 extra special.

Disclaimer – This review was written in collaboration with Thomas Cook Sport but as always all words and opinions are my own.