City are shining blue light in bid to help in crisis
CITY writing to supporters as they begin to process season ticket refunds was the latest action from a club that has responded very well to the chaos caused by coronavirus.
In a difficult time for so many, the spotlight and attention has been firmly on football clubs to see what they have and haven’t been doing to help.
UK health secretary Matt Hancock singled out footballers early on in the crisis, asking them to contribute financially, while it is more newsworthy when famous faces such as Kyle Walker break lockdown than it is when No.84 on your street does it.
In addition to Walker’s behaviour, it has not always felt like the club have made the right moves.
Initially, communication with casual workers was lacking and the decision to take direct debit payments for games that did not look like they would go ahead - especially not with fans, anyway - was misplaced.
But these circumstances are unprecedented. It is difficult for anyone to get everything right at the best of times, let alone in the midst of a situation that nobody had prepared for.
Over time, the good that City have done as a club both for its supporters and the wider communities it serves has shone through.
Refunding tickets has been done at this point because there has been enough certainty from recent talks with the Premier League and the government to mean that this step can be taken and all fans were notified before it was announced by media.
The club have also been busy supporting frontline workers. Without much fanfare, they spoke with the NHS about how best they could adapt their facilities. That has resulted in initiatives at the Etihad such as 1,000 Covid-19 tests a day being carried out in a car park, an exercise and relaxation centre for 26,000 hospital and social care workers in the region and space in the stadium to train 350 nursing staff.
City have taken the time and effort to ensure their partnership with the NHS can continue when football returns and even when fans are allowed back into stadium and made sure this was all set up before announcing the news.
On top of calls and help packages to check in on supporters, the club have also struck the right tone in talks about football returning.
If there is an acceptance that it needs to happen and the priority remains completing the season, Raheem Sterling and Aymeric Laporte have been some of the few players to speak on record about the importance of the health of all those involved being considered before rushing back. City’s training ground has been shut for two months.
There is always more that can be done, but in uncertain and testing conditions the careful and intelligent response of City as a club deserves credit.