The match on Sunday 3 April will pit a celebrity XI, led by former Sunderland manager Peter Reid and ex-Everton and Man City boss Joe Royle, against a team of former pros managed by none other than one-time England manager Sam Allardyce and TV’s Paddy McGuinness.
Among the celebs taking part are comedian Jason Manford, Emmerdale actor and I’m a Celebrity winner Danny Miller, and DJs Mike Sweeney and Tom Zanetti. The ex-pro team, meanwhile, will be able to call on Arsenal legend Paul Merson, Southampton’s Matt Le Tissier, and Dietmar Hamann, formerly of Newcastle and Liverpool.
Chloe and Liam, himself an aspiring sportsman, were among 22 people killed on 22 May 2017 when extremist Salman Abedi blew himself up in the foyer area of Manchester Arena as people were leaving an Ariana Grande concert.
Proceeds from the game will be divided between five charities set up by families who lost loved ones in the bombing, including the Chloe and Liam Together Forever Trust. The trust was set up by Chloe and Liam’s parents and provides grants for young people to achieve their potential in sport and performance. It has so far supported more than 200 youngsters.
The game will kick off at 3pm on 3 April at Manchester City’s academy ground in Manchester. Tickets are priced at £20 for adults and £10 for concessions and are available online here. Westoe Travel has arranged a coach from South Shields to the game.
Westoe director Graeme Brett said: Chloe and Liam were really popular in South Shields and there was great interest in the town to attend the game. We have a full coach going to what promises to be a very entertaining day and hopes to raise £100,000 for the charities."
These are two teams set to contest the match.
Celebrity XI
- Managers: Peter Reid and Joe Royal
- Jason Manford
- Danny Miller (Emmerdale and I’m a Celebrity winner)
- Jo Warren Plant (Emmerdale)
- DJ Mike Sweeney
- DJ Tom Zanetti
- Jay Kontzle (Emmerdale)
- Anthony Quinlan (Emmerdale and Hollyoaks)
- Max George (The Wanted)
- Alan Halsall (Coronation Street)
- Will Ash (Shameless, Dr Who, Waterloo Road)
- Steve Royle (Britain’s Got Talent runner-up)
- Simon Wood (MasterChef winner)
- Callum Jones (Love Island)
Ex-Pro XI
- Managers: Sam Allardyce and Paddy McGuinness
- Paul Merson (Arsenal)
- Dietmar Hamann (Liverpool and Newcastle)
- Matt Le Tissier (Southampton)
- Keith Gillespie (Newcastle and Manchester United)
- Colin Hendry (Blackburn and Scotland)
- Wes Brown (Manchester United)
- Dean Holden (Stoke City and Oldham)
- Michael Brown (Manchester City)
- Paul Dickov (Scotland, Manchester City, Blackburn)
- Shaun Goater (Man City)
- Paddy Kenny (Leeds and QPR)
- Richie Wellens (Manchester United and Oldham)
- David Dunn (Blackburn)
- Andy Ritchie (Oldham)
