I never knew this, and it's brilliant news.

A little more about Sadio Mané's latest project...

Since signing for Liverpool – and before – Mané has developed a reputation for being an incredibly humble and down to earth guy and now, per a report in AS, that reputation is only going to be enhanced.

That is because news has emerged that Mane has spent upward of £450,000 to build a hospital in his native village, Bambaly, in Senegal.

This isn’t the first time Mane has funded a crucial infrastructure project within the area having also been the driving force behind the construction of a school and a supermarket.

Now, having returned to his homeland for friendlies with Zambia and Cape Verde – both of which he scored in – Mane also paid a visit to the country’s president, Macky Sall, to discuss the construction of the aforementioned hospital.

According to the report in AS, the hospital will serve no less than 34 of the surrounding villages.

Mane’s incredible philanthropy is not expected to end there though, with AS reporting that further projects are also in the pipeline.

Next time you're thinking that all footballers are overpaid mouthbreathing wastes of space, have a little think about blokes like Sadio (and his strike partner at Liverpool, Mo Salah, who has similar projects on the go in his native Egypt) anf maybe think agaiun.

While I'm bigging up footballers, let's not forget supporters, and from the blue half of Merseyside "Speedo Mick," is on the march again with "SpeedoMick's Giving back Tour".

Brave and very good man

Bloody dog

England stars' touching plan to donate Euro 2020 bonuses to the NHS
England's players will share £9.5million between them if they win Euro 2020 but Jordan Henderson, Harry Maguire and co are looking to donate their winnings to charity

England's heroes want to donate their Euros bonuses to NHS charities.

Gareth Southgate’s men could share up to £9.5m in prize money if they win the Euros on Sunday and they want to carry on donating cash to good causes.

It is a remarkable gesture by the players who made huge donations to the NHS at the height of the pandemic last year.

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire were both at the heart of the NHS Charities Together and became national heroes when they put politicians to shame by stepping up to the plate.

The Football Association will net around £24m in prize money if England enjoys a historic win in the Euros at Wembley on Sunday.

Around 40 per cent of that sum goes to the 26 players in the squad and they have already held talks about making another gesture.

It has yet to be finalised and there are hurdles to overcome because there may be tax implications but it seems certain the NHS will get a huge windfall from the Euros.

The players released a statement last May which confirmed they would donate match fees to charity.

It read: “Following positive discussions with the FA, the England senior men’s squad are pleased to confirm that a significant donation from their international match fees will be made to NHS Charities Together via the #PlayersTogether initiative.

“This contribution will be taken from a fund already set aside to support a variety of worthy causes using all match fees collated since September 2018.”

The likes of Henderson, Maguire and Marcus Rashford have already become national heroes, Gareth Southgate’s squad are now on course for their first trophy in 55 years and this generosity will only highlight the work they are doing.

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She really is a piece of work.

Money raised after Marcus Rashford mural defaced to go to food charity in Manchester
Footballer, who is campaigning to end child food poverty, says funds will go to FareShare

Tens of thousands of pounds that were raised after Marcus Rashford’s mural was defaced will be donated to a food poverty charity in Greater Manchester.

The artwork was vandalised hours after England’s European Championship final loss as Rashford and fellow players Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka suffered racist abuse online.

Nearly £40,000 was raised by members of the public in an online campaign to repair the mural in Withington, which depicts the 23-year-old player’s face alongside the words: “Take pride in knowing that your struggle will play the biggest role in your purpose.”

As well as donations, the mural’s wall was plastered with thousands of tributes from fans as people rallied in support of the Manchester United striker. Hundreds also took part in a Stand Up to Racism rally by the artwork on Copson Street, which is near where Rashford grew up and went to school. The footballer said the outpouring of support really lifted him at one of his lowest points.

The mural has since been restored by street artist Akse. Police said that the “content of the vandalism” was “not believed to be of a racial nature” but inquiries are ongoing.

It was announced last week that the thousands of messages that had been left on the mural would be removed and preserved in order to create “a lasting legacy of tolerance, love, and solidarity for future generations to learn from”.

Rashford, who has worked on a number of food poverty campaigns, said the money raised would be donated to FareShare Greater Manchester, to “guarantee that we reach more children in need this summer”. Some of the funds will be used to cover the cost of repairs to the wall.



The charity, which has partnered with Rashford, is part of the UK’s largest food charity, FareShare, and works to fight hunger and food waste by redistributing unwanted food across the region. FareShare Greater Manchester said reliance on the charity reached unprecedented levels during the pandemic, with between 50,000 and 60,000 people and about 230 frontline charities depending on it each week.

Rashford, who is campaigning to end child food poverty, has been instrumental in forcing the government into a series of U-turns over its free school meals policy. In October 2020, he was awarded an MBE in recognition of his services to vulnerable children in the UK during the pandemic.

The government’s holiday activities and food programme, which was expanded last year amid growing public concern about food poverty during the holidays, has come under fire in recent weeks after Labour said it provided free meals for only 16 of a total of 30 weekdays during the six-week summer break.

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Comment on Twitter: It's amazing what you can do when you don't run your country like a penal colony.

More "positive" stuff about football in a vain attempt to prove it's not all about multi-millionaire prima donnas who are only out for themselves:  This is from the club website, and it's things like this that make me proud to support the club I do. I probably don't have to explain that Jürgen Klopp is the Manager of Liverpool Football Club, but I've just done it anyway. Steven Gerrard and Carra (Jamie Carragher) are ex-players, club legends, and Liverpudlians too.

Behind the Badge: 'The Ghostbuster' - Liverpool's cleaning 'legend'
Glenn Price



In testament to just how affable Mick Bibby is, Jürgen Klopp wanted to contribute to this article.

Mick will have served as a cleaner at the club for two decades next summer and is currently a permanent fixture around the men's team – as a sanitiser during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Wow, wow, wow," the Liverpool manager begins his eulogy. "Mick the cleaner is a legend, definitely.

"When I met him properly the first time, it was the Christmas party in my first year. We lost 3-0 at Watford, we came home and everybody expected that we will not celebrate. I said, 'No, no. We go there, it's the Christmas party.' When we arrived Mick was already in quite worrying shape with a cowboy hat on his head!

"Great guy, wonderful person. It's so nice to have him around. There will come a time where we don't have to sanitise anymore and we will find another job that keeps him close to us because he's a great guy and I really like having him around."

During a conversation with Liverpoolfc.com at the recent training camp in Evian, Klopp's words are put to Mick. A sense of disbelief comes about as he sits back in his chair.

"I don't know what to say, I'm lost for words, to be honest," he offers, blowing his cheeks with his hands on his head. "Unbelievable.

"I've loved every part of being around the team and sanitising for them. Anything I can do for the team to help them out, I'll do it.

"From working at Anfield, cleaning the stadium and after 12 years being asked to go to Melwood and clean for the team and clean everywhere, it was a dream come true."

Mick first started cleaning for the club in 2002. Taking on an all-encompassing role at Anfield, he jokes "the only thing we didn't do was cut the pitch and mark the lines."

Bowing to the hectic football calendar, he'd have to brush the stands, mop the concourses and clean the toilets in time for the turnstiles opening.

He says: "You'd have a game on the Saturday, a game on the Wednesday, a game on the Saturday, so no sooner had you got it clean, once the game had finished it was just a mess again. But it kept me fit, though my knees aren't too good now going up and down the stands and round and round!

"You'd forget where you were because you'd just be busy clearing up and then you'd just look up and go 'wow'. Some people would give their left arm just to be in there, never mind work there. Just to look up and see the Kop... it was unbelievable.

"Sometimes when we'd done all our work, now and again you'd catch five minutes of the game between the Kop and the Kenny Dalglish Stand, where the police stand. Now and again you'd be able to pop your head over and catch a little bit of the game but that was about it really.

"Once the fans were in, it was quite hectic and a lot of work to do – empty all the bins, clean the concourses, toilets, any spillages."

It was in 2014 when Mick was asked to be a cleaning supervisor at Melwood, not far from the Stockbridge Village area he grew up in.

"It was Christmas come early for me," the lifelong Liverpool fan says. "I'd walk around the corner and Steven Gerrard would be there or Carra and it was like 'wow', and I'd turn around and walk away.

"When you're in Anfield, you sort of learn to stay out of the way of the players when you're cleaning. But obviously, when I came to Melwood, they're right in your face and you end up talking to them and saying hello and they start talking to you. It was surreal really, to be honest.

"They made it easy, to be honest, the players. They came to you, do a fist bump or ask you how you are. It was great. I'm on first-name terms with all of them now."

When football returned during the pandemic in May 2020, Mick took on greater responsibility and, as a result, a new nickname.

In addition to his cleaning role at the AXA Training Centre, he now follows the first team wherever they go to disinfect rooms, surfaces and equipment.

"The Ghostbuster – that's all I get called because of the backpack I carry around with my sanitiser wherever I go," he laughs. "Even now in France, le Ghostbuster!

"Just going with the team home and away, coming to Evian, Austria and spraying all the hotels – I try to spray anything that moves. I love it.

"I've seen another side to how the game works and what the staff have to organise to make it the game of football. A lot goes into it, all departments work their socks off just to play the game of football. There's a lot behind the scenes that you just don't realise.

"You wouldn't believe how many people it takes to make it run smoothly just so the players can just concentrate on the game of football."

It's an environment (clean and sanitised, of course) Mick wants to stay around. Even his Evertonian relatives are happy for him.

"I'm living the dream every day, it's unbelievable," he finishes. "All the players, the staff members, everyone – they go out of their way to make you feel part of the team. Everyone gets on together, has a laugh and I try to have a laugh with them if that's possible once I've done my cleaning.

"That was my dream to play for Liverpool, play football. I didn't actually end up playing football for Liverpool but I'm working for them in some type of scenario, which is a dream come true.

"I'd love to stay around it."

Those are sentiments wholly shared by Klopp and everyone else fortunate to encounter Mick.

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Everyone working for the club (any club) has a part to play and it's great to be reminded of that once in a while because we tend to focus on the visible and don't always know, or appreciate, what goes on behind the scenes.
While other clubs may be publishing interviews with their latest multi-million-pound signings, we're chatting to someone who, in the scheme of things, is just as valuable to the players and staff, Mick The Cleaner, Le Ghostbuster. I wonder how many other top club managers are as aware of and as appreciative of their cleaning supervisors?

There are more "Behind The Badge," articles on the site too, including one about George (The Voice Of Liverpool) Sephton, who has been the announcer at Liverpool's Anfield Road home for over 50 years now, and Ian Graham PhD, the theoretical physicist who is Liverpool FC’s director of research; the leader of a six-strong data analysis team that has a remit encompassing pre and post-match work, sports science, the Academy and, primarily, recruitment.

Then there's David Roberts, our grounds manager, the man responsible for the health of the playing surface at Anfield, "If it grows and the club owns it, it's my responsibility," he says.

Gemma Smith, a Liverpool John Moores Uni graduate who is now our Head of Youth and Skills at Liverpool FC Foundation, the official charity of Liverpool Football Club.

How about Julian Ward?  A new position was created espacially for him: loan pathways and football partnerships manager.  He became responsible for making partnerships and networks with clubs around England and Europe,” he explains...


“It’s my job to work with our coaching staff and sporting director to make sure we have a network of good options in place for when the younger lads are ready to go out into senior football, or when fringe first-team players need competitive game time.

“We also need to put in place support processes to manage each player’s pathway once that decision is made.

“We need to first identify positive environments for players to go to and then make sure that when they go, they are developing remotely.”

Then there's the legendary Carol Farrell and Caroline Guest, they definitely deserve a mention.

They’ve been working for the club since 2004 and have served the Liverpool players their breakfast, lunch or dinner with a smile on their faces.

Carol and Caroline are loved by players past and present. Luis Suarez was understood to be asking about them when making a return visit to Melwood in 2017.

What they do may not seem like it has a lot to do with running a football club, but Carol and Caroline help create a family atmosphere at the club and a good environment that helps the players perform better on the pitch.

And that final sentence is what its all about, making everyone feel a part of a "family," and everyone has a prt to play in that, from the cleaners, to the trainers, to the boss himself.

That's great to hear Paul, very reassuring for you both.