Sky to show Alan Ball memorial match

[Media Boy UK]

Sky One is to show coverage from The Alan Ball Memorial Cup this summer.

The event, a co-production between Guerilla productions and sports events company Toast, will feature an England v The World celebrity and legends international charity football match in tribute to Alan Ball MBE, one of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team, who died earlier this year.

Confirmed England players include Jamie Redknapp, Lee Sharpe, Paul Merson, John Barnes, Graham Le Saux, Matt Le Tissier, as well as celebrities Vernon Kay, JK & Joel, Danny Dyer, Matt Dawson, Ben Cohen and Simon Webbe.

Players for The World include Thomas Brolin (Swedish superstar famous for 94 World Cup), Martin Dahlin (another Swedish great from 94), Dan Petrescu (Romania’s most famous footballer and former Chelsea player), Bruce Grobbelaar, Ian Rush, John Aldridge, Neville Southall (Most capped Welshman of all time) and Gus Poyet (Uruguay and Chelsea).

The game, which will be played at the new Milton Keynes Stadium, will air on July 29 on Sky One. A two-hour programme will include the studio build up followed by the live match. A donation from tickets sold at the gates will be given to the Bobby Moore Fund For Cancer Research UK.

Donna Taberer, commissioning editor, features, Sky One, Two and Three, said: “The Alan Ball Memorial Football Match is a fitting tribute to a true national hero and something we absolutely wanted to be involved with."

A 'Battle of the Soaps' game will also be played on the day, with Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks stars competing in a 30-minute each-way football match to raise money for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance Service. A one-hour highlights package of this game will be screened on Sky One at a later date.


Info from Digital Spy.
note: Sky One is only on Sky Digital.