Trophy Store Blog
Soccer Aid 2012 Scores for Charity
28 May 2012
For 90 minutes, the worlds of football and celebrity came together in perfect harmony with UNICEF the winner at Soccer aid 2012.
England took on the Rest of the World for the fourth time in this bi-annual charity football match, and the glamorous spectacle at Old Trafford raised an astonishing £6.5million for the worldwide children’s charity.
Uber-celeb popstar Robbie Williams led an England team of ex and current pro footballers – including Kevin Philips and Teddy Sheringham – rock and pop stars, actors and comedians, against a star-studded Rest of the World, whose line-up included Hollywood icons Woody Harrelson, Mike Myers, Will Ferrell and Edward Norton.
A capacity crowd saw an England team managed by Sam Allardyce win 3-1 with goals from Philips, Sheringham and Captain Jonathan Wilkes, but goal of the night was scored by Sergio Pizzorno for the Rest of the World. The Kasabian axeman left England goalkeeping legend David Seaman red-faced with the most delicate of chips in the first half.
Appropriately, however, it was Robbie Williams who was to get his hand on what is now the celebrity world’s most coveted of football trophies, the Soccer Aid Cup.
The Take That singer is the one who came up with the idea for Soccer Aid, and while his appearance on Sunday was restricted to just 20 minutes, he was roared on to the Old Trafford pitch by an adoring crowd waving England flags and banners. There was even more adulation for former Manchester United heroes Roy Keane, Jaap Stam and Edwin Van Der Sar, appearing for a Rest of the World squad managed by Kenny Dalglish, which also included Welsh actor Michael Sheen and Scottish actors, Gerard Butler and James McAvoy.
And it seems the ancient rivalry between Scotland and England was sparked up again on the pitch when a Sheringham tackle on celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay ended the foul-mouthed Scot’s game – in fact, Ramsay was eventually stretchered off after a lengthy period of treatment while a less than contrite Teddy looked on.
However, the game was played in a wonderfully sporting manner with substitutes on both sides being cheered on and off the pitch, with the most rousing of cheers for Take That’s Mark Owen and Robbie Williams himself.
Soccer Aid 2012 was broadcast live on ITV with around 4.5 million viewers tuning in to catch all the action on and off the pitch – the packed crowd included England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney and wife Coleen, and former Footballers’ Wives star Susie Amy.
The success of 2012 and previous years seems to be firmly embedding the event into the fundraising calendar. All the money raised from the event will be used by UNICEF for its children’s projects around the world.
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