Black and white
before a kick-off, Rafa met volunteers of the NUFC Foodbank to find out more about how he could help and to hand over a donation.
Bill Corcoran, from the foodbank, said: “I’ve met previous managers and what struck me about Rafa was that it wasn’t all about him. He was genuinely interested in the food bank, asking us questions about how it worked, how long it had been going, how he could help and what the football club could do for us.
“He wanted us to send him an email so he could put it on his website to publicise us. He even took one of the black-and-white loom bands that Amanda has been knitting and selling in the Grainger Market.
“Rafa was speaking to us for a while. I started checking my watch almost thinking ‘Come on Rafa, haven’t you got a team to sort out here?,’ but he was so relaxed. This is a man who has the weight of a city on his shoulders at 3pm on a Saturday – but you would never have known it.”
A few months later, he donated an original work of art displaying the words “mis mejores deseos”, which means “my best wishes” in Spanish, to be auctioned off to raise money for the food bank.
Almost a year after Rafa took over the club, Ireland-based Toon fan Kevin Monaghan was booking a room in Dublin’s Academy Plaza hotel for a February trip with his fiancée. He was asked on an online form if he had any special requests for his stay.
Naturally, Kevin asked for pictures of Rafa to be hung up on the bedroom wall.
Amazingly, the hotel played ball and came through on his request.
After seeing the coverage of the story, the team arranged for Kevin to meet his hero before a match last season.
Rafa also made time to meet an unlucky fan who tripped over her own banner supporting the then new boss at his first game at Leicester.
Zoe Ellison fell at the King Power Stadium where she held a supportive sign for the former Liverpool and Chelsea manager.
Benitez posted on his own website to reveal he had met with the supporter at the training ground.
He said he was “really happy to be able to meet her and say thank you” after she recovered from her fall.