Standard Chartered invited Management School students to take part in a cultural exchange with Liverpool Football Club to mark Chinese New Year.
Current restrictions mean students are unable to travel home to celebrate with their families so Standard Chartered helped them mark the occasion by organising a special online event.
Students from the Management School, Yiheng Xu (BSc Economics), Jincheng Yang (Football Industries MBA) and Qiqi Luo (MSc Sports Business and Management), along with fellow students from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Xiaofan Qian (Department of Mathematical Sciences) and Sze Yu Li (School of Engineering) were selected to take part in a zoom call with first team players Nat Phillips, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gini Wijnaldum. The students talked about how they normally celebrate, traditional customs, what the Year of the Ox means and even taught the players some common Chinese New Year phrases.
Yiheng Xu said “I was honoured to be part of my own country’s New Year’s celebration with my favourite football club. Meeting the players was exciting and it was very interesting to introduce the customs of my country. I am so glad that they are interested in Chinese culture, the event meant a lot to me.”
Jincheng Yang said “The experience was fantastic. Being engaged in this project was an opportunity for me to meet (on zoom) football players from Liverpool FC, as well as to witness how people can co-ordinate virtual projects during lockdown. It’s brilliant that the Management School can provide such incredible opportunities to students.”
The Management School holds close links with Liverpool Football Club with a number of alumni going on to work there after graduation. Members of the club’s executive management have also delivered guest speaker sessions, most recently Peter Moore (former Liverpool Football Club CEO). As Liverpool FC’s main sponsor, Standard Chartered works with the club to create unique, money-can’t-buy experiences for clients, communities and supporters around the world.