Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has paid tribute to the late Bernard Halford, who died last week.
Halford, the Blues' legendary club secratary, passed away at the age of 77 after a period of ill-health.
The front cover of City's matchday programme for Wednesday night's Premier League game against Cardiff is emblazoned with Halford's portrait, and Guardiola detailed his importance to the club in his programme notes.
"Tonight is an emotional occassion for us here at Manchester City," he wrote. "At Fulham on Saturday we paid tribute to former Club Secretary and Life President Bernard Halford with the red and black scares, and now we have the chance to honour him again at our own stadium.
"People like Bernard are the lifeblood of any business. He was someone who devoted his whole life to Manchester City.
"As manager and as players we all try to leave a lasting mark, but we come and go - that is the nature of the sport.
"Bernard, however, was here for almost half a century - think about that - devoting every single day to trying to make City as successful as he could. Incredible.
"Before his sad passing, I was lucky enough to meet Bernard and to have a long conversation with him about football and his love for this club. He was a hero."
