City And United To Wear Manchester Bee Logo In Pre-Season Friendly
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The match may be taking place nearly 5,000 miles away from Manchester, but that hasn't stopped City and United from showing their love for their city when they clash in Houston, Texas on July 20th.
Both sides will sport a Manchester worker bee logo on their shirts when they meet at the NRG Stadium, in tribute to the 22 people killed at the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena on 22 May.
"The worker bee symbolises everything that makes Manchester such a special city and our players will wear it on their shirts with immense pride, as a demonstration of solidarity with the Manchester community" said Ferran Soriano, Manchester City chief executive.
Manchester street art, depicting the city's bee logo. Credit: Flickr/Transport Pixels (Creative Commons)
The derby in Texas will be the first time that Manchester's biggest rivals have played since the attack at an Ariana Grande concert.
"The city of Manchester has shown great strength and unity since the tragic terror attack in May, showing the country and the world how special this city really is" said Soriano's Manchester United counterpart, Ed Woodward.
"Having the worker bee on our shirts once again shows the community spirit of our city and football club and it is only natural that we continue to help all of those affected, through this fundraising and awareness, with millions of fans across the world watching this game."
Credit: PA
The Manchester bee has been the emblem of Manchester for over a hundred years, representing the textile industry that made the city and the workers that made that industry possible.
When terror struck in May, it was repurposed in solidarity with those affected by the attack at the Manchester Arena. Hundreds of people had the design tattooed on them to show support and to raise money for the Manchester Tattoo Appeal, which helped survivors.
Credit: PA
The shirts that are used in the first Manchester derby to take place in the United States will also be given over to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund and auctioned off to raise money.
Manchester United and Manchester City have already contributed £1 million ($1.3m) each to the appeal, which was set up in the immediate aftermath of the attack to provide support for those worst affected.
The hashtag #ACITYUNITED was used to unite those across the city's huge footballing divide in solidarity with the victims and to promote unity after the devastating attack that targeted concertgoers, many of whom were young children.
Source: BBC
Featured Image Credit: Manchester City FC
Topics: Manchester City, Manchester United
