Garry Monk is leading the way in helping Birmingham reconnect with the community

GARRY MONK is winning over hearts and souls at Birmingham.

The Blues boss has fast become a cult hero and not just because his team have exceeded expectations on the pitch.

Since leading Birmingham to a last-day-of-the-season escape from relegation last May, Monk has been helping the club re-engage with previously disenchanted fans.

Surviving three last-day relegation battles in five seasons was hard enough.
But this term the club has been hit with a transfer embargo for falling foul of EFL financial fair play rules.

Yet, despite that, Monk has not only galvanised his small squad, who are clear of relegation trouble this time around, but also the supporters.

And central to that has been Monk and his players connecting with them and the community.

He told SunSport: “The fans were not getting a good feel from the club they loved. So I spoke to the players about the responsibility they have – not just with their performances and how they train but what they need to do to make supporters feel they actually care about Birmingham City.

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“And one of those conversations centred around what we could do in the community. I got chatting with Claire Boden, who came in as our community officer at the end of last season, and decided there was more this club should be doing.

“But what I didn’t want was for it to be a token gesture where we set up a rota and sent players out to make various appearances.

“I wanted the guys to genuinely want to do it – rather than just showing up because they’d been told. I wanted them to do things off their own backs. And that has grown. Players have done stuff and are now coming up with their own ideas.”

Monk has led from the front. The Blues boss went into Birmingham city centre with club legend Geoff Horsfield in October to help feed homeless people and also wrapped Christmas gifts for them too.

And two other acts of kindness further melted hearts.

The Blues held an open pre-season training session for supporters but eight-year-old cerebral palsy sufferer Mason Betts missed it because his mum was taken to hospital that morning. Due to his condition, Mason had never visited St Andrew’s.

So his father tweeted Monk, who then invited him to watch the team train as well as meet and have lunch with the players.

On learning that lifelong fan John Gibb had suffered a serious stroke, the Blues boss visited him in hospital.

With his rehab going well, John was invited by Monk to watch the home game with Sheffield Wednesday in a VIP hospitality box and they met before the match in his office.

Monk then arranged for John to be given a free season ticket in the club’s disabled area.

He said: “It all stems back from my playing career at Swansea, who did a lot of work in the community. I’ve always loved doing it.”

The Blues boss – who returns to Swansea tomorrow for the first time since leaving the club as manager just over three years ago – said: “It’s easy to get caught in a bubble where everything revolves around football.

“But outside that bubble is the real world. Our fans have lives and there are people who are in a difficult place. It helps put things in perspective.

“These things have been an eye opener for everyone and the genuine feeling from players and fans is it’s not a gimmick, it’s genuine. Everyone wants to be involved.” Monk believes young players, even ones who have not yet made it, do not get enough real-life exposure.

He said: “The want to be a professional footballer is so great nowadays. There is such pressure on kids that they grow up in a bubble.

“The chances of a young footballer making it, not even at the top level but just being a pro, are small. The percentage of having longevity in the game is even smaller.

“Yet these kids have had no exposure to the real world so they don’t know what’s going on, they’ve never seen people who are in a less fortunate position and lack genuine life skills. So for me, it’s so important to expose our footballers to that.”

And there is no doubt that this is reaping rewards on the pitch too. With the team and fans connected, players are faster to make that loose ball or are quicker into that tackle.

It means more to players when they understand who they are playing for. And, win, lose or draw, that is all fans want – to see their team representing them with their heart and soul.