MANCHESTER CITY say they will continue their ‘groundshare’ with the NHS even after the Premier League re-starts next month.
The champions have handed over their Etihad campus to workers battling the coronavirus pandemic over recent weeks.
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Manchester City have been allowing the NHS to use their Etihad Stadium in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak
The NHS have converted Manchester City’s Etihad complex into a public health facility during Covid-19
More than 350 nurses are currently having training in the suites at the stadium – while more than 1,000 coronavirus tests are being carried out on the site each day.
However if ‘Project Restart’ is successful, football could be being played at the venue once again in just over four weeks’ time.
The Etihad has been picked out as one of the possible ‘neutral’ venues for matches due to its location on the outskirts of town.
Alternatively if clubs are allowed to use their own grounds, then Pep Guardiola’s men may be back in action there by June 12 – or soon afterwards.
Yet with games certain to be played behind closed doors, City believe their home is big enough for both of them.
That means all the facilities – including the rest and relaxation centre which has been used by thousands at the stadium – will remain indefinitely.
A club source said: “This is seen as a long-term partnership and we are ready to support the NHS as needed over the coming weeks and months.
“We believe we are the first club to make that commitment.”
City’s Community support in numbers
- 350 nurses trained on site
- 1,000 tests per day carried out on site
- 26,000 health and social care staff offered access to facilities on campus
- 28 residential groups and 23 charities receiving letters and offers of support
- 2,500 items of training wear donated with PUMA
- Over 3,000 phone calls to Seasoncard holders
- 3 care homes received letters from U15 Academy players
- 700 bottles of hand gel donated
- 2,000 Easter eggs given to young carers in the city
- 3,000 books for children in the local community
- 200 schools engaged by City in the Community on a weekly basis
- 250 community participants engaged in fitness classes on a weekly basis
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Chief operating officer Omar Berrada said the club will continue to offer support for as long as it takes.
He said: “We remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting Manchester over the coming weeks through this crisis and beyond into its recovery.
“We do so in the full confidence that our city will come back stronger than before.”
Martin Keown questions whether players want Premier League to return after Sergio Agüero admits they are ‘scared for their families’
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
