United And City Shirts To Feature Worker Bee

Manchester City and Manchester United football clubs will both wear shirts featuring Manchester’s iconic worker bee when they meet in the US on 20 July 2017. 

The fixture will be the first Manchester derby to take place outside of the UK, and the first meeting between the two clubs following the terrorist attack in Manchester in May. 

Symbolising the industrial heritage of Manchester and its people, the worker bee has been an emblem since the Victorian era and was adopted into the city’s coat of arms in 1842. 

Following the match at Houston’s NRG Stadium, both clubs will make the match-worn shirts available for fans to purchase, via auction, with all proceeds going to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund. 
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The presence of the bee on both shirts follows the launch of #ACITYUNITED as the Blue and Red halves of Manchester came together to pledge a £1 million joint donation to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund. The money from the fund will help the families of the 22 people who died in the atrocity and the 64 people who were injured. 

Speaking ahead of next week’s match, Ferran Soriano, Chief Executive Officer of Manchester City, said: 

“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. 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.”

Echoing these sentiments, Ed Woodward, Executive Chairman of Manchester United, said: 

“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.”