A MANAGER of a North-East football club has given back to a small football club.

Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock said it is was “nice to put a bit back” after he helped pay for a defibrillator at Taffs Well Football Club.

Warnock, 72, became a friend of the club during his three-year spell with Cardiff City, known as the Bluebirds.

The Middlesbrough manager was due to be part of a fundraiser for the defibrillator but that was cancelled because of the pandemic.

Mr Warnock said: “It was just great to help really.

“We live in the outskirts in Cornwall and to have a defibrillator in our village, it’s just given everybody that bit of support that we can just get there quickly and it saves lives.

Former Taffs Well chairman John Newberry worked as a driver for Warnock when he was at Cardiff.

When Mr Warnock wanted his Cardiff side to play a local pre-season game - but stressed the need for a grass pitch - Newberry suggested a visit to his club, in the Rhondda Cynon Taff village of Taff’s Well.

Mr Newberry said: "It's important that this defibrillator sits outside the ground so it's not just for the players."