Vincent Kompany Reveals How He Will Give Back To The City Of Manchester At Testimonial Dinner

Vincent Kompany reveals how he will give back to the City of Manchester at testimonial dinner

Vincent Kompany’s testimonial dinner took place at the Hilton on Deansgate on Monday night, as the Manchester City captain looked to raise money for the homeless to mark the completion of his tenth season at the Etihad. Funds raised at the Tackle4MCR gala, where Noel Gallagher performed, will support Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s ‘A Bed Every Night’ initiative, which was launched on November 1.

In an exclusive interview, Kompany told the M.E.N in December how he was driven to get involved in the fight against homelessness after City moved to their training complex in Eastlands and he began to see the city’s widening wealth gap first hand. “We’re very closely linked to each other no matter how much disparity there is in wealth,” he said. “We live in the same environment, the same area, and if people have the means to help, they should do it.”

Vincent Kompany said City’s move to their new training complex in the city centre helped him realise he had to help tackle our burgeoning homeless crisis. Until 2014, the Blues players travelled from their homes, many of them in the Cheshire suburbs, to the old training ground at Carrington in Trafford.

But when the new £200m state-of-the-art Etihad Campus opened in Eastlands, the Belgian said he started to experience the reality of Manchester’s widening wealth divide on a daily basis. As an honorary Mancunian – it was something Kompany, 32, says he could not accept. He married local girl Carla Higgs, a City supporter from Irlam, in 2011 and they are raising their daughter Sienna in the region.In a heartfelt interview with the M.E.N., Kompany said he couldn’t ‘preach’ to her about ‘humbleness, if a few miles down the road there’s people living in the street… and I haven’t tried to help’. He went on: “We’re very closely linked to each other no matter how much disparity there is in wealth. We live in the same environment, the same area, and if people have the means to help, they should do it.”

In August 2008, Premier League club Manchester City signed Kompany from Bundelsiga side Hamburg on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Two days later, Vincent Kompany made his Manchester City debut against West Ham United. On 28 September, Kompany scored his first goal in City’s 2–1 away defeat by Wigan Athletic. On 28 December 2008, he started the game with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park as a holding midfielder and also completed the full 90 minutes in a 2–2 draw