LONDON, United Kingdom, Jan 21 – The Manchester City squad will refund the ticket costs for 374 supporters who travelled to Norway to witness their side’s shock 3-1 Champions League defeat at Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday.
With the price of an away ticket for the game costing around £25, City players will put together a total of £9,357 towards paying back those who made the trip to the Arctic circle.
Speaking on behalf of the squad, City’s captaincy group of Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Rodri and Erling Haaland said: “Our supporters mean everything to us.
“We know the sacrifice that our fans make when they travel across the world to support us home and away and we will never take it for granted. They are the best fans in the world.
“We also recognise that it was a lot of travelling for the fans who supported us in the freezing cold throughout a difficult evening for us on the pitch.
“Covering the cost of these tickets for the fans who travelled to Bodo is the least we can do.”
The gesture has been praised by the official supporters’ club (OSC) as there were limited calls from fans to be refunded.
Kevin Parker, representative of Manchester City’s OSC, said: “City fans will travel to the ends of the earth to support our team, and last night was no different in the arctic circle.
“Bodo is not an easy place to get to, and the sub zero temperatures made it a challenging evening on a number of levels for our fans.
“The City support has an incredible connection with the players on a matchday, and this gesture is yet another reminder of that relationship – it means a lot to us.
“We know that the players are disappointed with the defeat to Bodo, but with our next game at home on Saturday there’s a chance to get back to winning ways and our fans will be in full voice.”
City suffered one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history in being stunned by Glimt and now require victory in their final group-phase game against Galatasaray to ensure a top-eight finish.
Haaland called the result “embarrassing” and apologised to the travelling fans by telling TNT Sports: “Bodo played some incredible football and it was deserved.
“I don’t know what to say. What I can say is sorry.”
