Liverpool and Manchester City are among a host of Premier League clubs that will donate any fresh food prepared for this weekend's now-postponed matches.
The Premier League announced on Friday morning that every game across the weekend would be postponed following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The EFL, non-league and grassroots games have also been called off, with the FA Trophy matches set to moved from Saturday to Tuesday.
However, Liverpool, in particular, have taken the initiative to donate food to local foodbanks such as the Whitechapel Centre, Victory Outreach, and Fans Supporting Foodbanks, according to the Liverpool Echo. While the match postponement has disrupted routines, including donations, Homebaked on Oakfield Road outside Anfield will stay open for business and for donations as usual, as Liverpool continue to help the homeless.
A spokesperson from the club has said: "Liverpool managed to pause a lot of the food preparation ahead of Saturday's game against Wolves. Fresh food that was prepared has been getting donated to the local community since 9am Friday morning and will continue all day on Saturday. This includes 30 trollies of fresh sandwiches.
"Donations have gone to Whitechapel Centre for the homeless, Victory Outreach youth hostel, L30 Community Centre, two schools in Anfield, Fans Supporting Foodbanks and L6 Community Centre."
Meanwhile, Manchester City will be paying any casual workers who were expecting to be on shift for their postponed men's and women's games this weekend. Pep Guardiola and his side were due to play Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium, while City's women's team were set to get their Women's Super League campaign underway at the Academy Stadium on Sunday against Arsenal.
Despite the reasons behind the postponements, the decision has had consequences for any preparations already made for this weekend's matches as well as the people that were expecting to be involved. City have acted so that anyone on a zero-hours contract who was set to work either game will be paid in full for the shift they were expecting to be working. In addition, any perishable food will be distributed to organisations in Manchester so as to try and waste as little as possible from what would have been served.
Tickets for either match that had been bought remain valid for whenever the games are rearranged, and refunds can also be requested if that is preferable. No dates have been set for the rearranged games, and there remains uncertainty over whether the Premier League and WSL will be back next weekend or whether more sets of fixtures will be postponed to mark the period of mourning.
"We’re beyond gutted that the two collections we had planned for this weekend aren’t able to go ahead following the postponement of all fixtures by the footballing authorities, especially for what would have been our first collection of the 2022-23 women’s season on Sunday," a statement released by Manchester City Fans Foodbank read.
"Our collections have become the biggest donations that Manchester Central Foodbank receive, so when these can’t go ahead it becomes a tragedy. Especially in one of the worst crises of our lifetimes, with foodbank usage through the roof and people terrified at having to choose between fuel, powering homes, or feeding their families.
"We were expecting to collect at least 250kg of food, 1/8 of what we raised the entirety of last season. It would’ve provided hundreds of emergency meals. We have made a donation to Manchester Central Foodbank to try to replace a small amount of the food and essentials we would have collected."
Crystal Palace have also donated food, including 100kg of fruit and veg, for Saturday's postponed game against Manchester United to Norwood foodbank and City Harvest.
