Ex-Wolves and Villa stars appearing in new charity tournament
Former Wolves and Villa favourites have given their backing to a special new football tournament that will raise money for Cure Leukaemia.
The 'Copa Del Cure Leukaemia' takes place at England's St George's Park next month and will feature Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier in a six-a-side tournament.
Ex-Wolves keeper Matt Murray, former Villa midfielder Ian Taylor and ex-Wolves and England man Geoff Thomas, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2003 and has raised thousands of pounds in the fight against the disease, will all be involved at St George's.
It takes place at England's training base on Friday November 23, followed by dinner and guest speakers in the evening.
Sky Sports presenter Johnny Phillips will interview players during the afternoon and host the dinner – it's hoped the whole event will raised £50,000 for Cure Leukaemia.
Sixteen teams will take part in the tournament and there are still spaces available for people to sign up and play.
James McLaughlin, CEO of Cure Leukaemia, said: "The Copa Del Cure Leukaemia will undoubtedly be a keenly-contested competition but played out in a great atmosphere at the fantastic facilities at St George’s Park.
"This event provides the perfect opportunity for football fans to live like a professional for the day, starting right from getting changed in the England dressing rooms used by Gareth Southgate’s World Cup semi-finalists.
"As well as the football itself, there will be plenty of additional elements to the event to add to the fun, and we are working to ensure even more footballing legends will be involved on the day.
"All of this will be followed by a dinner in the evening, involving guest speakers, to round off a great event at the home of the England national team.
"Everyone taking part will have played a part in raising money for our continuing support of the globally significant and life-saving work of the staff at the Centre for Clinical Haematology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, and across the Midlands.
"We have set a fundraising target of £50,000 for the event, which would fund one of our specialist research nurses for one year to ensure patients that have exhausted standard treatment options can continue to access the latest, pioneering treatments for blood cancer."
Former Wolves keeper Carl Ikeme and ex-Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov have also suffered with leukaemia in recent years.
Anyone else interested in taking part in the Copa Del Cure Leukaemia should email beapro@copadelcl.co.uk
The cost is £3,500 per team (based around a squad of ten players and including VAT) and also includes a full kit, pre-tournament lunch, a minimum of three matches on a tournament basis and a table at the evening dinner.
Visit http://copadelcl.co.uk for more information.
