Doing the 92 is Daniel Storey’s odyssey to every English football league club in a single season. The best way to follow his journey is by subscribing here.
Before every Manchester City men’s and women’s weekend home game, under the bridge next to the Asda superstore that sits adjacent to the Etihad Stadium and the Joie Stadium, a group of people erect a gazebo and stand, in all weathers, to collect food donations from football supporters on their way to the game.
MCFC Fans Foodbank Support started in December 2019; this month brings the fifth anniversary of a group of friends walking into a shop, buying a gazebo and printing off some signs because they wanted to make a difference. They accept any food or toiletry item that does not contain alcohol or require refrigeration.
At the end of every collection, one of the volunteers will package together all of the donations and take them to Manchester Central Foodbank, located in St. Peter’s House on Oxford Road on the way into the city centre.
MCFC Fans Foodbank Support are far from alone and keen to express that they took their own lead from others. In Liverpool, Fans Supporting Foodbanks was a joint initiative founded in October 2015 by Liverpool’s Spirit of Shankly and Everton‘s Blue Union fan groups to collect food donations at home games of each club. In Newcastle, the NUFC Fans Foodbank has been collecting since February 2017. Irons Supporting Foodbanks began at West Ham on the same day as the first Manchester City collection.
All these clubs share a connection: they are wealthy Premier League clubs that are located in, or near, areas of relative poverty. But perhaps in no place in world football is that contrast more stark than in east Manchester. In Gorton and Abbey Hey, 65.5% of households in this ward are classified as deprived in one or more way and one Manchester City Council document notes that “almost 50% of East Manchester’s residents live in neighbourhoods classified as being within the most 1% deprived in England”.
“The people who run the club might act like they operate in isolation of the local area, but east Manchester is one of the most deprived places in Europe and it has been for a long time,” says Alex Timperley, one of the founders of MCFC Foodbank.
“We were talking to the food bank the other day, and they are giving food to over 1,500 people a week. That need doubled during the pandemic and they thought that would be the worst of it. In fact, since then the demand has doubled again.
“It’s astronomical. There is also that clear contrast between the multi-billionaire football club owner and many of the people who live close to this club. That contrast is pretty bleak, quite frankly.”
As a result of the organisational work and the generosity of those who give, these days form the biggest donors to the biggest foodbank in central Manchester. As with all foodbanks, they spend thousands of pounds on wholesale food that allow it to be a haven for those in need, but football fans at City games donate around one-a-half months-worth of the annual need.
As Alex stresses, this is not just about Manchester City supporters. Plenty of the donations they receive on a matchday are from away fans – positioning yourself next to a supermarket is smart: just go in and buy a few tins for us. When Fulham Lillies – a female Fulham supporters’ group – came to see them, they gained all the advice they needed to set up their own initiative at Craven Cottage that has now become established.
Manchester City 3-0 Nottingham Forest (Wednesday 4 December)
- Game no.: 44/92
- Miles: 123
- Cumulative miles: 7,173
- Total goals seen: 123
- The one thing I’ll remember in May: The first time I have watched my own team this season. Forest have been flying away from…so obviously they lost 3-0.
This is the point of it all, right? Partly the aim here is a direct one: collecting provisions for those vulnerable in society who need them most. But there’s also an extra layer here: football supporters helping other supporters to assist others, which then naturally flows into other fan issues. It’s using the power of football supporters as a collective, prodigious mass to positive effect. There exists great untapped potential within that power.
“We do it at the football, because what brought us together was being City fans,” says Alex. “But we also chose football because football supporters are the biggest organised group of people in every town and city in the whole country. My belief is that if football fans all get together and decide that they want to do something, it will happen, whatever it is.
“Clubs are still largely based within their communities, even if their owners aren’t. Fans will always be there. And as much as City fans get some stick, the people who donate to our food bank, and we see them, are the same ones who were there in Division Two and were everybody’s second team. People who live in the community know it: the ones who are often in the position to offer the most help are the ones who offer the least.”
It should not go unnoticed that this movement is growing at exactly the time that the most loyal football supporters of the largest clubs in the country are increasingly being exploited, with ticket prices rising in search of tourist fans who will generate more matchday revenue. If the outdated stereotype of elite footballers has finally been eroded, the same process is happening for supporters and tribalism. They are coming together for the greater good.
This visit, and this piece, was deliberately timed around Christmas. This is the time of year when hot meals are most vital in preserving health, when heating poverty is at its most cutting and when parents feel extra pressure to provide a little something extra for their children. It becomes acute and can be too much to bear without support.
In fact, as Alex explains, I’m almost completely wrong.
“Donations definitely go up at this type of year, which is great,” he says. “People will clear out their cupboards or buy extra advent calendars. The other side is that what I’d call PR donations go up at this time of year too – companies, organisations, football clubs.
“What I would say is that we really need these same donations in January and February. The problem is that donations then tend to fall off a cliff after Christmas and the demand is just the same. If they could all stagger out their PR shots of filling up boxes over January and February, that would be useful! I must be clear: all donations are incredibly welcome.”
Alex, and everyone like him at football club foodbanks all over the country, are not aiming to solve the issue. This, sadly, is a losing battle for any number of non-wealthy individuals. There is accompanied campaigning for the Right To Food campaign that would aim to eliminate food poverty in the UK. But within that context, these people were given a choice: do something or do nothing. Doing something will mean everything to someone.
“It’s a losing battle, but the battle is there to be fought regardless and we’ll do our small bit for as long as that is needed,” says Alex. “Obviously the issue is bigger than people giving tins of beans. It’s a political and deep-rooted societal problem. But you can just do things, from week to week, that actually help people immediately.
“If I had one message it would be: You can just do stuff. I think people sometimes get stuck because they don’t really know how to start. There will always be people who come up with reasons why you need to wait or delay or put more thought into it. But you can do it now. A lot of people will donate and get involved if someone starts it. Know your own power.”
You can donate to Trussell Trust, a charity that is aiming to eradicate hunger in the UK, here.
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