SM
Watford vs. Leeds: 9 hrs 36 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Gary Neville admits he is missing football but is focused on "greater priorities"

:Headline: Gary Neville admits he is missing football but is focused on 'greater priorities': ID:393913: from db_amp
Neville and Wales manager Ryan Giggs have given NHS staff access to 176 beds in their two hotels in Manchester free of charge.

Gary Neville has stressed he misses football but there are currently greater priorities after he and Ryan Giggs gave health workers free access to their hotels.

Neville and Giggs' Stock Exchange and Hotel Football in Manchester were closed to the public from Friday with access to the 176 beds given to medical staff as a show of solidarity during the coronavirus pandemic.

The former Manchester United duo have revealed around 35 NHS staff have checked in so far and that the expectation is the properties will soon be full of health workers, who are being offered a stay of around 10 days.

Amid a global sporting shutdown, the English football season has been halted until at least April 30.

Neville said on BBC Breakfast on Monday: "I am missing it a lot. It isn't that important at this moment in time, but you do recognise how much football impacts people's lives, how much sport impacts people's lives, and the relief, hope and joy that it gives them during the week and at weekends.

"No one will ever complain about football being on again because I think everyone wants it to return, as they do with normal life. But, in this moment in time, there are greater priorities."

Giggs said with regard to the hotels: "At the moment we have about 20 NHS staff at Hotel Football, 15 at our other hotel, Stock Exchange. But we expect both of them to be full in the next week or 10 days.

"We are offering NHS staff to stay for around 10 days and then they have their turnovers. Free of charge. It is difficult at the moment to gauge how to keep our staff safe and the NHS staff safe as well. We are doing our best."

Neville said the pair started planning what they would do with the hotels with regard to the outbreak around three weeks ago.

"One of our shareholders Peter Lim is Singaporean and him and his team were feeding in to us how they have dealt with things quickly and decisively over in Singapore and how they are beating this virus," Neville said.

"Three weeks ago in England I don't think we were quite seeing the dangers, but we have got good intelligence. We spoke to Ryan's mum, who worked in the NHS for many years, speaking to many nurses and doing our own business planning and keeping our guests and staff safe.

Giggs, left, and Neville continue to work alongside each other after being team-mates at Manchester United (Martin Rickett/PA)

"It was a week or so ago that we decided we would open our hotels to medical professionals and NHS staff as they would need it."

Giggs said the hotel staff were coming in on a voluntary basis, while emphasising that "with the virus, you have to be careful".

The Wales manager added: "We have had the help of the government over the last few days, which has helped the hospitality business, but it is going to be a long fight.

"We will just have to see where we are in a few months. The landscape is changing so quickly, but hopefully we can get rid of this virus sooner rather than later."

amp_article__393913 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2020-03-23 12:14:35:
html db last update - 2021-03-01 03:59:04 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Coronavirus outbreak - Click here for more stories

Click here for more stories about Gary Neville

Click here for more stories about Manchester United

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal28204470244664
2Liverpool28197265263964
3Manchester CityMan City28196363283563
4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .