Former Boro star Fabrizio Ravanelli is set to make a comeback to the Riverside for a charity football match
The “White Feather” will join a star-studded line-up, including former strike partner Mikkel Beck for the match.
Joining Rav and Beck are other fan favourites - Neil Maddison, Gary Hamilton, Andy Campbell, Colin Cooper – and Saltburn singer James Arthur.
Over two days, there will be three games of football, in aid of three charities – Happy Hands, the Finlay Cooper Fund and James’s Journey.
The event, now in its fourth year, is co-organised by Dave Gibson and the Boro Walkers’ Association, who will be looking to build on 2014’s total, where more than £20,000 was raised.
Ravanelli joined Boro in 1996 after Steve Gibson shocked the football world with the £7m signing. He is believed to have been one of the top earning English footballers at the time. He scored 31 goals in all competitions for Bryan Robson’s side, including 16 in a Premiership campaign that ended in relegation. He joined Marseille in 1998.
The Boro Walkers’ Association will be swapping their walking boots for football boots, as they emerge from the changing rooms to challenge the collection of football heroes from the 80s and 90s.
Boro Walkers’ Association Club Secretary, Peter Livingstone, said: “We played last year and it wasn’t really advertised properly, this year, I’d love to see 5,000 people turn up!”
Peter commented on one of the charities in particular: “The Finlay Cooper Fund is obviously really close to Colin’s (Cooper) heart, and it’s great that’s he’s going to play in the games.”
The Finlay Cooper Fund was set-up in 2006 by ex-Boro centre-back Colin Cooper and his wife Julie, following the tragic death of their two-year-old son in January 2002, donations received by the fund go to several causes including children’s hospices and cancer wards.
James’s Journey is for the benefit of a family friend of Dave Gibson’s – a young boy born with cerebral palsy, who requires 24-hour care, and ABR therapy, which costs £5000 a year.
Happy Hands is a new charity, based in Stockton, to help build a day centre in the area for deaf and disabled children.
The chance to be a mascot at one of the games was advertised via Facebook, costing £10, with all of the money being equally split between the three causes.
The entrance fee for each day is just £2 – 100% will be equally split amongst the threee charities.
Gates open on Sunday 24th May at 10am (for a 10.30am kick-off), and again at 7pm (for a 7.30pm kick-off), Monday 25th May at 7pm (for a 7.30pm kick-off).
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