City and United to wear tribute shirt in Houston friendly
It's in tribute to the 22 victims of the attack at The Arena.
Manchester City and Manchester United will wear shirts displaying the city's worker bee for their pre-season friendly in Houston next week as a tribute to those affected by May's terrorist attack.
Next Thursday at the NRG Stadium the two Premier League clubs will meet for the first time since a suicide bomber killed 22 people at Ariana Grande's Manchester Arena concert on May 22.
A ÂŁ1million donation was made by the two clubs to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund following the attack and the shirts worn in next week's game in Houston, which will be the first Manchester derby staged abroad, will now be auctioned off for the charity too.
The worker bee features on Manchester's coat of arms and the emblem that has been linked since the Victorian era has now been adopted as a symbol for the city's togetherness following the attack in May.
"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,'' said United's executive chairman Ed Woodward.
"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.''
City's chief executive officer Ferran Soriano added: "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.''
The respective clubs will announce how the shirts can be purchased in the coming weeks