City and United to pay tribute to Manchester victims in US friendly

Manchester City and Manchester United will wear shirts bearing the worker bee emblem when they face each other in a pre-season friendly in Houston next week as a mark of respect to those affected by the Manchester terror attack.

A suicide bomber targeted a pop concert by American singer Ariana Grande at Manchester Arena on May 22, killing 22 people and leaving dozens more injured.

The worker bee, adopted as a motif for Manchester during the industrial revolution, has become a symbol of solidarity and respect for the city and with the victims of the attack.

City and United donated a combined £1million to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, which will also benefit from both sets of match-worn shirts from next Thursday’s encounter being made available to fans in an auction.

#MUFC and @ManCity will proudly wear shirts featuring the worker bee for the derby in Houston on 20 July: https://t.co/jMkTbxGOqj pic.twitter.com/jgssgCuihK

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 13, 2017

“Manchester continues to show great strength and sense of community since May’s devastating attack and the thoughts of everyone at Manchester City remain with those affected,” said City chief executive Ferran Soriano.

“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.”

You can add the bee to your #MCFC shirt for £3, with all proceeds going to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.https://t.co/uJ0bOoueUX

— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 13, 2017

Soriano’s United counterpart Ed Woodward added: “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.

“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.”