Celebrity Charity Football Match
On Saturday 13th May 2017, 5020 people flocked to Walsall Football Clubs Banks’s Stadium to watch stars of TV, music and sport take to the pitch for a celebrity charity football match. The event was organised by Sellebrity Soccer and sponsored by Tile Choice to raise money for two charities, Smile for Joel and Compton Hospice.
Smile for Joel was founded by Suzy Richards, who lost her son, brother and father in the terrorist attack in Tunisia in June 2015. On 26 June 2015 Suzy’s family went on holiday but her son Joel, dad Pat and Brother Ade were tragically killed along with 27 other British people during a terrorist attack. Her youngest son Owen was the sole survivor. Smile for Joel in its own right is now a fundraising charity that supports bereaved family members who are victims of murder, manslaughter and terrorism.
Compton Hospice is a Wolverhampton based charity that has been supporting patients facing a life-limiting illness and their families for over 30 years. This year, they celebrated their 35th Anniversary. Their purpose is to make a difference to people’s lives when their illness is no longer curable. They do this by treating people, not conditions, whether their needs are physical, psychological, social or spiritual.
The star-studded event saw two teams go head to head, the Smiling Saddlers Vs Compton Wolves – with glamour model Katie Price and X Factor winner Shayne Ward taking charge of the two sides.
Before kick-off Suzy Richards, founder of Smile for Joel, emotionally thanked all of the players after a short video was played to explain more about the charity set up in memory of her 19-year-old son Joel Richards, Brother Adrian Evans and Father Patrick Evans. Suzy said: “The support has been fantastic since day one. The ripples of what happened have affected so many people. I just cannot thank everyone enough for their support”.
Reality TV personalities Liam Gatsby and James Argent from The Only Way is Essex and Austin Armacost from Celebrity Big Brother warmed up the crowd by posing for selfies and having a pre-match kick about. The crowd then erupted as the Compton Wolves and Smiling Saddlers teams ran out onto the football pitch.
And, although she arrived nearly an hour late flanked by a TV crew, Katie Price was still eager to please fans with fighting talk for her Saddlers team. She told host Dicky Dodd before watching her side triumph with a 6-5 score: “Never underestimate the pricey, we’re here to win today”.
Corrie actor and singer Shayne Ward was in charge of the opposing team, assisted by Steps star Lee Latchford-Evans.
Other famous faces included the likes of EastEnders actors Jake Wood and Dean Gaffney, Jimmy Constable from boy band 911, F2 Freestylers Billy Wingrove and Jeremy Lynch, former Wolves player Jamie O’Hara and Calum Best.
The charity match had quite a build-up since the first initial press release in December 2016. This included celebrities such as James Argent, going on a journey around schools with organiser Kevin Cooper, in a car supplied by Evans Halshaw. A promotional advertisement was also displayed on Europe’s largest LED screen, which is situated on the busiest stretch of the M6 Motorway – seeing 3.44 million motorists every fortnight.
As the event sponsors, Tile Choice are extremely proud to have been involved in such an event – and by covering all the costs this allowed 100% of the ticket money to be split equally between the two charities.
