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When we say that Rafa Benitez ‘gets’ Newcastle United, it’s often hard to explain exactly what that means.

He’s not the first Newcastle boss to speak highly of the city, the club and its supporters. He’s not the only boss to throw himself into the club’s community work or support the many good causes that it is associated with.

But something that happened on Saturday – just an hour before kick-off – neatly sums up why United fans hold him in such high esteem.

At a recent Newcastle United talk-in in aid of the Newcastle United Foodbank – which provides emergency food supplies for families and individuals facing the prospect of starvation – Benitez was made aware of the fundraising efforts of fans who had packed into the Tyneside Irish Centre.

He was convalescing at home following his hernia operation but wanted to top up the £2,700 raised for the Foodbank – as well as providing a raffle prize of a day at the training ground in his company.

(Image: NUFC Fans Food Bank)

It was a terrific gesture. But what happened next was another example of how sometimes, the small things add up to the bigger picture.

Bill Corcoran – a Newcastle United Supporters Trust member and a driving force behind the Foodbank – takes up the story.

“It was amazing for Rafa to even think of us in the first place. We thought the £300 donation was a mark of the man but we just thought the cheque would be in the post.

“There was a group of us – myself, the brilliant Michael Nixon, Amanda Ross and Steve Hastie – up at the ground on Sunday anyway to drop off some posters about the Festive Fayre we’re running this Christmas and I said to (head of media) Wendy Taylor that we’d pop by on Saturday before the match and pick up the cheque from reception if it was there.

“We were amazed when she said Rafa would want to see us in person. This was a matchday – I can’t think of many other Premier League managers who would agree to take time out of their preparations to meet a few charity volunteers. We were even more surprised when she suggested coming along at 12.45pm to speak to us. Apparently he wanted to talk to us about the Foodbank and find out a bit more about how he could help.

“So we found ourselves in the players tunnel at 1pm and there was a shout ‘Make way for the Stoke players’. I’ve never seen anything like them. I have played rugby for the county but they were a really fearful bunch. To a man I wouldn’t have wanted to come across any of them in a dark alley. They’re a big team – I was thinking ‘These lot are going to pulverise us’.

“Bear in mind we’d met Isaac Hayden – one of our bigger lads – during the week when he had come along to volunteer for us at the Foodbank and he was nothing like the size of their guys.

(Image: Newcastle United)

“Anyway, we were waiting and still no sign of Rafa. Then at 1.45pm – about an hour before kick-off – he emerged from the dressing room with a cheque for us.

“I’ve never met Rafa before but I was so impressed by him. He was so relaxed, so canny – and I just couldn’t believe that he had time for us at a period when he must have had so much else on his mind.

“Look, I’ve met previous managers and what struck me about Rafa was that it wasn’t all about him. He was genuinely interested in the Foodbank, asking us questions about how it worked, how long it had been going for, how he could help and what the football club could do for us.

“He wanted us to send him an email so he could put it on his website to publicise us. He even took one of the black and white loom bands that Amanda has been knitting and selling in the Grainger Market.

“Rafa was speaking to us for a while. I started checking my watch almost thinking ‘Come on Rafa, haven’t you got a team to sort out here?’ But he was so relaxed. This is a man who has the weight of a city on his shoulders at 3pm on a Saturday – but you would never have known it.

“All I can say is that if he is that relaxed and impressive an hour before kick-off, I can see why those young men in the Newcastle dressing room are playing the way they have been the last couple of weeks.

“We walked away so impressed by him. It was the measure of the man that he had time for us at such a crucial time. Of course, this being Newcastle I presumed we’d lose the game and a fantastic day would be spoiled. To actually win was a strange feeling. Things aren’t meant to go like clockwork at Newcastle United!”

The West End Foodbank – also known as the Newcastle United Foodbank after an agreement with the club – has been a presence at every home game since last year, collecting thousands of tonnes of food and – Corcoran says – ending starvation in one area of the North East. He hopes it is just the beginning.

Corcoran says: “Look, we know that we are a good PR story for the football club so it’s easy to be cynical about their involvement but believe me, it goes far deeper than just easy PR for them.

“There are a lot of good people at Newcastle United who have been doing their very, very best – and that includes the years before Rafa Benitez took over as manager. I believe that football can be a fantastic force for social good – we need our football club to play its part and I’m very, very happy that Newcastle are doing that.

“How fantastic is it that we can say that it was football fans – not the opera crowd or the theatre goers, not that I’m attacking those groups – who have effectively ended starvation in a part of Newcastle? That’s football fans with our historical reputation who have taken it upon ourselves as a collective to support this initiative.

“Newcastle United’s part in what we’ve managed to set up is absolutely critical. For a start, we have an association with the club by using their name – it is the Newcastle United Foodbank and we had to have permission from the club to use that name, because obviously they control it. We do not take that lightly – we know that we have a responsibility to represent Newcastle United in the right way and we have to be honest, that association has enabled us to help many, many more people than we would have been able to help without it.

“They have done and continue to do a lot that doesn’t generate them publicity. There are important people at Newcastle United who are coming to visit us and helping out in ways that haven’t been publicised because they don’t want it to be in front of the cameras.

“For example the club staff – we’re not talking about the players or the management here, more the staff on minimum wage and above – have their own weekly collection for the Foodbank. Not many people might know that.

“I feel sorry for Newcastle United in a way – in terms of the size of business it is, it’s nowhere near the biggest in the city or the region. It’s not fair to ask them to set up their own foodbank or fund schools or projects on its own – but they can use their profile. There is scope for the club to be a terrific force for social good, and I think this could be just the beginning.

“It is a tremendous story of what can be achieved when the club, its staff, its players and the supporters work together for a common cause.”