Dylan Bettencourt
Blackburn Rovers became the UK’s first ever football club to host an Eid prayer session on their pitch on Monday night.
Hundreds of Muslims gathered at Ewood Park stadium to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Footage tweeted by the club showed half the field covered by prayer mats as well as a holy message being delivered to the attendees.
“Eid Mubarak from everyone at Blackburn Rovers. This morning #Rovers became the first football club in the country to host Eid prayers on the pitch,” the club said.
Ahmed Khalifa moved from the United Arab Emirates to Blackburn only four months ago but was made to feel at home by his local football club.
“Eid for Muslims is something very special, all the relatives come together. This time, for us especially, we miss our relatives so much,” he said.
“So, it was a very big deal for us to have this group of people.”
Blackburn play in the second division of football and while Khalifa is a Manchester City fan, he declared that he would support the club in his new home.
“Every city [has] to support their team whatever their team is doing, good or bad. I’ll support them until they make it,” he added.
The Eid prayer forms part of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting where both food and water cannot be consumed from sunrise to sunset.
The prayer session to mark the end of Ramadan is often done as a large group in an open space, a ceremony Covid-19 has restricted in the last two years.
Blackburn was widely praised across social media for their gesture.
“This is actually quite amazing. Well done to all involved – pretty special for a little town called Blackburn. Hope other clubs follow where there’s a need,” a Twitter user said.
Several other sporting stadiums hosted prayer sessions on Monday as Small Heath park saw 30,000 gathered with Platt Fields park in Manchester hosting 20,000 people.
Image source: @TheIndependent
