Soccer Aid


Soccer Aid is a British charity event that has raised over £38 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The event is a friendly-style football match between two teams, England and the Soccer Aid World XI, composed of celebrities and former professional players representing their countries.
Soccer Aid was initiated in 2006 by Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes. It initially took place every two years however, from the 2018 edition, it is now held annually. It is produced by Initial and distributed by Endemol Shine Sport, a Dutch company that distributes Dutch Eredivisie coverage.
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 England team lead the head-to-head with 5 wins to the ROW/World XI's 3 wins.
On 16 June 2019, the fixture was the first to include female players as part of the squads.

Event details

Soccer Aid 2006

, 22–27 May 2006

Event schedule

The practice matches were played over 60 minutes, with the Soccer Aid match played 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. Goals from Les Ferdinand and Jonathan Wilkes 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.
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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 build-up 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.
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Other notable participants
The match was refereed by Pierluigi Collina, the Italian referee considered by many fans as the best referee of all time.

The match

Soccer Aid 2008

Event schedule

Soccer Aid 2008 was played on 7th September 2008. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV and presented by Dermot O'Leary.
Before kick-off Jonathan Ansell sang the footballing anthem "Nessun Dorma", whilst the players were introduced to Sir Geoff Hurst.

England squad

The England squad was coached by Harry Redknapp, with Bryan Robson as his assistant manager.
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The Rest Of The World squad was coached by Kenny Dalglish, with Ian Rush as player-assistant manager.
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The referee at the start of the match was Pierluigi Collina, who also refereed the previous match in 2006 and is regarded as the best referee of all time. However, after Collina was injured in the first half he was replaced by Scottish referee Hugh Dallas. The process of two professional referees overseeing one half of the match each has since been maintained in subsequent series.

The match

Soccer Aid 2010

Soccer Aid 2010 was played on 6 June 2010. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV and presented by Dermot O'Leary.

England squad

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Soccer Aid 2012

Soccer Aid 2012 was played on 27 May 2012, as something of a precursor to UEFA Euro 2012 and the 2012 Summer Olympics. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV and presented by Dermot O'Leary. Cat Deeley presented the backstage build up show before the main event.

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Soccer Aid 2014

The 2014 match was played at Old Trafford on 8 June 2014.
The main match was hosted by Dermot O'Leary with Kirsty Gallagher, and Cat Deeley presented the backstage build-up show before the main event. Caroline Flack presented from the BT Tower in London. Match commentators were Sam Matterface and Graham Taylor, and Sol Campbell was a studio guest.
By full-time, the total raised for UNICEF was £4,233,019.

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Soccer Aid 2016

The 2016 match was played at Old Trafford on Sunday, 5 June. The main match was hosted by Dermot O'Leary and Kirsty Gallacher, with commentary from Clive Tyldesley and Chris Kamara.

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Soccer Aid 2018

The 2018 match was played at Old Trafford on Sunday 10 June. The main match was hosted by Dermot O'Leary and Kirsty Gallacher, with commentary from Clive Tyldesley and Robbie Savage.

England squad

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Soccer Aid 2019

The 2019 match was played at Stamford Bridge. The main match is hosted by Dermot O'Leary and Kirsty Gallacher, with commentary from Clive Tyldesley and Graeme Le Saux. The game was opened by poet Hussain Manawer with his poem Game of Hearts. The 2019 edition was the first to feature female players. As in 2018, the referee was Mark Clattenburg. At half-time British singer and actress Rita Ora performed new song "Ritual" with British DJ Jonas Blue and Dutch DJ Tiësto, the first time a musician has performed at Soccer Aid. American actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks kicked-off this year's Soccer Aid.

England squad

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Soccer Aid 2020

The 2020 match was scheduled to be played at Old Trafford on 6 June 2020. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the match was postponed with a rescheduled date yet to be announced. ITV have confirmed that the Soccer Aid 2020 match will be played behind closed doors in the Autumn on a yet-to-be-confirmed date.

Statistics

Top Scorers

RankPlayerGoals
1 Clarence Seedorf4
3 Teddy Sheringham3
3 Jonathan Wilkes3
3 Jeremy Lynch3
4 Alan Shearer2
4 Paolo Di Canio2
4 Jamie Redknapp2
4 Kevin Phillips2
4 Dimitar Berbatov2
4 Jermain Defoe2
10 Les Ferdinand1
10 Diego Maradona1
10 Serge Pizzorno1
10 Gilles Marini1
10 Joe Calzaghe1
10 Sami Hyypiä1
10 Nicky Byrne1
10 Mark Wright1
10 Darren Bent1
10 Robbie Keane1
10 Juan Verón1
10 Michael Owen1
10 Usain Bolt1
10 Kem Cetinay1