Soccer Aid

Soccer Aid
Genre	Charity event
Created by	Robbie Williams Jonathan Wilkes
Presented by	Ant & Dec (2006–08) Dermot O'Leary (2010–) Kirsty Gallacher (2010–) Backstage: Cat Deeley (2012–)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	12
Release
Original network	ITV TV3 (Republic of Ireland)
Original release	22 May 2006 (2006-05-22) – present
External links
Website

Soccer Aid

Founded	2006
Number of teams	2
Current champions	Rest of the World (2nd title)
Most successful club(s)	England (3 titles)
Television broadcasters	ITV TV3

Soccer Aid is a biennial British charity event that has raised over £15 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The event is a football match between two teams of celebrities and former professional players, representing England and the Rest of the World (RoW). Soccer Aid was initiated by Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes.

Television coverage began on ITV on 22 May 2006 in a show presented by Ant & Dec. Dermot O'Leary took over as main presenter in 2010. The event returned on 7 September 2008, won by England for a second time and again on 6 June 2010, won by the Rest of the World after a penalty shoot-out. England beat the RoW a third time on 27 May 2012 and RoW won for a second time in June 2014.

2006: Series 1

2006 Soccer Aid
Tournament details
Host country	England
Dates	22 May – 27 May
Venue(s)	2
Final positions
Champions	England (1st title)
Runners-up	Rest of the World
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	14 (3.5 per match)
Attendance	71,960 (17,990 per match)

ITV, 22–27 May 2006

Event schedule

22 May 2006 – Start of the television coverage, presented by Ant and Dec. Rest of the World defeats England in a penalty shoot-out
23 May 2006 – Practice match: England 1–0 England Legends (Craven Cottage, London)
24 May 2006 – Practice match: Rest of the World 3–7 Scotland Legends (Craven Cottage, London)
25 May 2006 – Rest of the World defeats England in a Football Quiz
26 May 2006 – Coaches name starting line-ups for the match
27 May 2006 – Soccer Aid Match: England 2–1 Rest of the World (Old Trafford, Manchester), attendance 71,960

The practice matches were over 60 minutes, with the Soccer Aid match over 90 minutes.

The competition was organised on behalf of UNICEF UK, with profits from the matches along with donations and sponsorship donated to UNICEF programs in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

England beat the Rest Of The World 2–1 with the goals coming from Les Ferdinand and Jonathan Wilkes, which put England into a two goal lead but a handball inside the area from David Gray resulted in a penalty converted by Diego Maradona. Wilkes won the Man of the Match award.

England squad

The England squad was managed by former England national football team manager Terry Venables, assisted by David Geddis and Ted Buxton. The original squad comprised 16 players, with Bryan Robson added later. A handful of the players, notably Angus Deayton, had previous celebrity international experience from the previous month's England v Germany: The Legends match in Reading, which Germany won 4–2. The England squad went into the match with no major injury worries. Their victory over a squad of ex-England internationals from the 1960s to 1990s on Tuesday morning was tempered with defeats to the Rest of the World in a penalty shootout and football quiz.

Celebrities

Legends

Rest of the World squad

The Rest of the World squad was managed by Ruud Gullit, with Gus Poyet as his assistant. Captain Gordon Ramsay injured his leg in the early training sessions and was considered doubtful for the match. The original squad of 16 players, which later saw 2 changes, was supplemented by the addition of Diego Maradona during the buildup to the competition. Lothar Matthäus had appeared in the England v Germany: The Legends match the previous month. The Rest of the World squad was wracked by injuries and withdrawals, and suffered from a lack of players. Desailly, Matthäus, Schmeichel and Ginola all arrived with only 2 or 3 days to spare before the match; Ginola arrived during half-time of their warm-up defeat to the Scotland Legends on Wednesday afternoon, and Diego Maradona only joined the squad on the day before the match. Also, Craig Doyle and Brian McFadden went into the match carrying knocks, which led to management members Ruud Gullit and Gus Poyet coming on as substitutes on Wednesday and in the match itself.

Celebrities

Gordon Ramsay (captain)
David Campese
Patrick Kielty
Eddie Irvine (withdrew and was replaced by Gareth Thomas)
Gareth Thomas (replacement for Eddie Irvine)
Ben Johnson
Sergei Fedorov
Brian McFadden
Alastair Campbell
Craig Doyle
Alessandro Nivola
Michael Greco

Legends

Other notable participants
The match was refereed by Pierluigi Collina, the Italian referee considered by many fans as the best referee of all time.^[1]

The match

England v Rest of the World

27 May 2006
19:45 BST

England	2–1	Rest of the World
Ferdinand 14' Wilkes 20'		Maradona 75' (pen.)

Old Trafford, Manchester
Attendance: 71,960
Referee: Pierluigi Collina


ENGLAND:
GK	David Seaman	45'
	David Gray
	Tony Adams
	Ben Shephard
	Robbie Williams (c)	85'
	Damian Lewis
	Paul Gascoigne	55'
	Jonathan Wilkes
	Bradley Walsh	55'
	Les Ferdinand	52'
	Dean Lennox Kelly	64'
Substitutes:
GK	Jamie Theakston	45'
	John Barnes	85'
	Graeme Le Saux	55'
	Jamie Redknapp	55'
	Angus Deayton	52'
	Bryan Robson	62'
Manager:
Terry Venables


REST OF THE WORLD:
GK	Peter Schmeichel	45'
	Craig Doyle	45'
	Marcel Desailly
	Lothar Matthäus	45'
	Michael Greco
	Bryan McFadden	8'
	Alastair Campbell	45'
	Alessandro Nivola
	Sergei Fedorov
	Gordon Ramsay	11'
	Diego Maradona
Substitutes:
GK	Patrick Kielty	45'
	Ben Johnson	45'
	Dunga	45' 73'
	Gareth Thomas	8'
	David Ginola	45' 55'
	Ruud Gullit	55'
	Gianfranco Zola	11'
	Gus Poyet	73'
Manager:
Ruud Gullit

2008: Series 2

2008 Soccer Aid
Tournament details

Host country	England
Dates	7 September
Venue(s)	1
Final positions
Champions	England (2nd title)
Runners-up	Rest of the World
Tournament statistics
Matches played	1
Goals scored	7 (7 per match)
Attendance	45,000 (45,000 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Alan Shearer (2 goals) Paolo Di Canio (2 goals)
Best player	Craig David

Event schedule

England v Rest of the World, at 19:30 just before kick-off Jonathan Ansell sang the footballing anthem Nessun Dorma whilst the players were introduced to Sir Geoff Hurst.