Soccer Aid
Soccer Aid is an English annual charity event that has raised over £121 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The televised event is an exhibition-style football match between two teams, England and the Soccer Aid World XI, composed of celebrities and former professional players representing their countries. It is the only mixed-sex match officially sanctioned by The Football Association.
Event details
Soccer Aid was initiated in 2006 by Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes. It initially took place every two years, but since the 2018 edition it is now held annually. The television broadcast 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 ROW/World XI team narrowly leads the head-to-head, with eight wins to the England team's six.
On 16 June 2019, the fixture was the first to include female players as part of the squads. In 2020, the match was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Edition | Year | Winners | Score | Runners–up | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | 2006 | England | 2–1 | Rest of the World | Old Trafford, Manchester | 71,960 |
| 2 | 2008 | England | 4–3 | Rest of the World | Wembley Stadium, London | 45,000 |
| 3 | 2010 | Rest of the World | 2–2 | England | Old Trafford, Manchester | 65,493 |
| 4 | 2012 | England | 3–1 | Rest of the World | Old Trafford, Manchester | 67,346 |
| 5 | 2014 | Rest of the World | 4–2 | England | Old Trafford, Manchester | 65,574 |
| 6 | 2016 | England | 3–2 | Rest of the World | Old Trafford, Manchester | 70,000 |
| 7 | 2018 | England | 3–3 | World XI | Old Trafford, Manchester | 71,965 |
| 8 | 2019 | World XI | 2–2 | England | Stamford Bridge, London | 39,836 |
| 9 | 2020 | World XI | 1–1 | England | Old Trafford, Manchester | 0 |
| 10 | 2021 | World XI | 3–0 | England | Etihad Stadium, Manchester | 51,674 |
| 11 | 2022 | World XI | 2–2 | England | London Stadium, London | 54,410 |
| 12 | 2023 | World XI | 4–2 | England | Old Trafford, Manchester | 74,000 |
| 13 | 2024 | England | 6–3 | World XI | Stamford Bridge, London | 40,000 |
| 14 | 2025 | World XI | 5–4 | England | Old Trafford, Manchester | 74,000 |
Soccer Aid 2006
Soccer Aid 2006 was held between 22–27 May 2006, and broadcast in the UK on ITV.Event schedule
- 22 May 2006 – Start of the television coverage, presented by Ant and Dec. Rest of the World defeats England in a penalty shoot-out
- 23 May 2006 – Practice match: England 1–0 England Legends
- 24 May 2006 – Practice match: Rest of the World 3–7 Scotland Legends
- 25 May 2006 – Rest of the World defeats England in a Football Quiz
- 26 May 2006 – Coaches name starting line-ups for the match
- 27 May 2006 – Soccer Aid Match: England 2–1 Rest of the World, attendance 71,960
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.Celebrities
- Robbie Williams
- David Gray
- Jamie Theakston
- Bradley Walsh
- Jonathan Wilkes
- Ben Shephard
- Ronnie O'Sullivan
- Damian Lewis
- Angus Deayton
- Dean Lennox Kelly
- David Seaman
- Tony Adams
- Paul Gascoigne
- Jamie Redknapp
- Les Ferdinand
- John Barnes
- Bryan Robson
- Graeme Le Saux
- Manager: Terry Venables
- Assistant manager: David Geddis
- Coach: Ted Buxton
Rest of the World squad
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.
Celebrities
- Gordon Ramsay
- David Campese
- Patrick Kielty
- Eddie Irvine
- Gareth Thomas
- Ben Johnson
- Sergei Fedorov
- Brian McFadden
- Alastair Campbell
- Craig Doyle
- Alessandro Nivola
- Michael Greco
- Gianfranco Zola
- Marcel Desailly
- David Ginola
- Dunga
- Lothar Matthäus
- Peter Schmeichel
- Diego Maradona
- Player/Manager: Ruud Gullit
- Player/Assistant Manager: Gus Poyet
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
Soccer Aid 2008 was played on 7 September 2008. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV and presented by Ant & Dec. Before kick-off Jonathan Ansell sang the footballing anthem "Nessun Dorma", whilst the players were introduced to Sir Geoff Hurst.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.
England squad
The England squad was coached by Harry Redknapp, with Bryan Robson as his assistant manager.Celebrities
- Ben Shephard
- Jamie Theakston
- Kyran Bracken
- Jonathan Wilkes
- Gareth Gates
- Tom Felton
- Danny Jones
- Craig David
- Chris Fountain
- Angus Deayton
- Hugo Speer
- Alan Shearer
- Jamie Redknapp
- Teddy Sheringham
- David Seaman
- Graeme Le Saux
- Des Walker
Rest of the World squad
Celebrities
- Gordon Ramsay
- Brian Lara
- Nicky Byrne
- Kenny Logan
- Patrick Kielty
- Alastair Campbell
- Gethin Jones
- Rodrigo Santoro
- Santiago Cabrera
- Gilles Marini
- Brian McFadden
- Jesse Metcalfe
- Franco Baresi
- Jaap Stam
- Paolo Di Canio
- Romário
- Luís Figo
- Cláudio Taffarel
- Ian Rush
- Peter Schmeichel
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
;Celebrities- Robbie Williams
- Paddy McGuinness
- Bradley Walsh
- Jamie Theakston
- Ricky Hatton
- Damian Lewis
- Olly Murs
- Jonathan Wilkes
- Dominic Cooper
- Ralf Little
- Rupert Penry-Jones
- Danny Cipriani
- Ben Shephard
- David Seaman
- Alan Shearer
- Teddy Sheringham
- Jamie Redknapp
- Martin Keown
- Nicky Butt
- Manager: Harry Redknapp
- Assistant manager: James Corden
- Coach: Bryan Robson
Rest of the World squad
- Michael Sheen
- James Kyson
- Gordon Ramsay
- Brian Lara
- Patrick Kielty
- Shane Filan
- Nicky Byrne
- Mike Myers
- Joe Calzaghe
- Gethin Jones
- Woody Harrelson
- Ronan Keating
- Simon Baker
- Jens Lehmann
- Henrik Larsson
- Zinedine Zidane
- Ryan Giggs
- Luís Figo
- Sami Hyypiä
- Paolo Maldini
- Manager: Kenny Dalglish
- Coaches: Ian Rush and Eric Harrison