A crowd of over 800, including at least one Iraqi victim of kidnap and torture, turned out on a decidedly cool evening to cheer on the players at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough as they took to the field for a very special football match in aid of the Baghdad Children’s Cancer Hospital, a 40@40 event organised by Fr Paul Farrer and friends as part of Fr Paul’s bid to raise £40,000 for good causes in this his 40th year.
Players young and frankly not so young included Fr John Paul Leonard whose appearance was enthusiastically cheered by a considerable turnout of support from his own parish, Fr Paul Farrer who understandably received a huge ovation, and the crowd’s favourite Fr Pat Keogh who stole the show especially when he ‘didn’t see’ his manager’s attempts to substitute him.
Four goals (two from David Gibson, and one each from Phil Luke and Paul Tillotson) from the Greco’s Brothers team were not enough to avoid defeat by the Knights’ Club team who scored five (two from both Ben Smith and Lee Freer and one from Craig Wilkinson) though only a great save by David McDonald late in the game prevented a draw. Phil Luke’s superb long distance strike was worthy of the Riverside or any other Premiership ground.
John Hinman of the Baghdad Children’s Hospital Appeal was eloquent in his praise for the wonderful evening and clearly overjoyed by the announcement that the event had raised over £13,500 for the appeal. The final figure will take into account Gift Aid donations and so will be announced later.
Thanks to everyone who supported this event in any way, but especially to Dave and Bernie Allan and all at Middlesbrough Football Club, to Boro legends Steve Vickers and Mark Proctor, to World Cup Referee George Courtney who ran the game splendidly, to Fr Pat Keogh who did so much to help publicise the game, to Keith, Chris and Mike and above all to Fr Paul without whom this would simply not have been possible.
For further information and to add your support to the Baghdad Children’s Hospital Appeal please contact John Hinman on 01642 700075 or e-mail jnhinman@gmail.com
The next 40@40 event is the bungee jump off the Transporter Bridge on June 15th in aid of Zoe’s Place Children’s Hospice. Please help Paul Farrer, David Allan, Kathryn Tillotson and Simon Carey through the justgiving web site (eg. justgiving.com/kathryntillotson). If these guys are prepared to jump off the Transporter, they clearly need help!
Sportsmen will have the opportunity to support our efforts again later in the year. On 9th September there will be a Golf Day at Teesside Golf Club supporting two charities; CLIMB in memory of baby Rosa Haycock, and the Mike McCullagh Memorial Fund. Anyone interested in entering a Team of Four should contact Fr Paul at frpaul@holynamesandstthomasmore.org.uk
Hi Fr Paul,
Thanks for email I couldn’t sleep either was the greatest night of my life to run out at the riverside with my family watching I ain’t alway been a nice person but 4 years ago some body told me get a higher power in my life I found god and my dreams would come true I finally believe that now thank you for giving me this chance a night I will never forget and a great way to start to give back thanks again
Thank you Paul,
It was awesome, I can’t wait to get the pics and relive the match, still can’t believe my shot from 25 yards hit the bar, or was it 30? it is getting further out every day,
Thanks again
Paul
I’m just recovering offshore in Baku. Unbelievable to score at the Riverside. Can’t wait for next Year!
I will owe the pot £10 for my photo CD as I didn’t pay on Monday. If you send me your postal address my wife will send a cheque.
Thanks for the opportunity
Dear Father Paul,
I apologise for not personally thanking you for organising everything on Monday night but I had to get back home to take my daughter to school on Tuesday morning as my wife was in hospital with an MRSA type bug most of last week and although making an excellent recovery cannot go out yet. I got back at 2am wide awake and then couldn’t sleep as I relived the evening!
If you are ever down this way and have a free moment please give me a call as I would love to buy you a drink/lunch etc as a thank you for creating such a special day for me.
Kind regards
Dear Father Paul,
That is great news for the charity but it is us who should be thanking you.
You created an evening which in my case will be remembered for the rest of my life. Since my first game in 1967 when I was 8 I have been following the Boro wishing I had been born with the ability to play the game I followed with such a passion and dreaming that one day I would be able to step out onto the pitch and play.
The passage of time made the dream no more than a childhood fantasy yet on Monday night you turned it into a reality - not just for me but all of us. A reality which thanks to the amazing efforts of you and your colleagues was as close to the real thing as it could be. A night when we were treated and made to feel like professional footballers for a few hours. Stepping out on to the sacred turf and being able to imagine what it really was like to be there on a Saturday, imagining that those seats were full with 34,000 pairs
of eyes beaming down on us watching everything we did - good and not so good.
An incredible evening - and thank you not just for organising the event, but setting the tone for the evening. For all of us it was living the dream and not fighting the war - it was hard, and physical (proved by my ankle like a balloon, bruised ribs and aching limbs) but the spirit in which the game was played was superb.
Thank you Paul and to everyone who played, thanks for playing in such a good spirit making it such an enjoyable night for me. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
See you all next season!
Could not agree more! Loved every minute of it, even when on the sideline. Although I’m still struggling to walk without looking like a cow boy 2 days on!! Thanks to everyone for a great night; loads of people from different age groups have commented on how much they enjoyed the match so we all must have entertained the masses. Cheers and looking forward to next year too!!
Thanks to all who took part to make this a special night. I can remember every second. Good to meet so many Boro fans and get to play with them nice to meet Joe from Ireland and thanks to Father Paul for making it.
Good luck everybody
Fr Paul,
Thanks, I wish I had kept my kit on for the photo but I knew I needed to get into the shower & get changed whilst I still could!
I had 2 pulled hamstrings, the first time I have ever managed to get two in one game, both big toes felt they had been crushed & I have blisters on both feet……….but I would do it all again, well yes I think I would!
It was as mentioned in the other notes a game played in a good spirit and it was a joy to play on such a good surface, those professionals have it easy!
I don’t think I have ever seen so many smiling faces in the Knights, well not that early anyway!
I had a great night, well done to you & the whole team of organisers, they all did a great job.
Cheers
Can’t say much more than has been said other than I’m sure that our efforts and pain are nothing compared to what the kids in Iraq are going through and hopefuly the money raised will make their lives a little easier.
I Have just about recovered and it was always my dream to play at Ayesome park and the nearest I ever got was running on after our promotion winning game
against Oxford in 67 but the Riverside is something extra special.
To play 24 hours later on the same pitch that had witnessed one of the premier leagues biggest winning margins in its history (The Boro never score 8) and has seen some of the worlds greatest players grace it was unbelievable, Juninho, Ravanelli, Bergkhamp, Gullit, Gerrard, Henry, Torres, Ricketts!!! the list goes on and now me making my Riveride debut at 50 on the same team as my son.
Thanks to everyone it was great to see all the happy smiling faces it was a night I will never forget and special thanks to Father Paul and his team of organisers. Next time lets make it 5 a side in the car park anyone want to buy a pair of hardly used footy boots size 8 might get a few quid on ebay.
Dear Paul,
I must add my thanks to you and your team of workers for a fantastic night.
As a player signed by the then Boro manager Bob Dennison as a youth it was always my ambition to play a competitive game on Ayesome Park. Although I played on all of the other North East’s grounds I never did get to realise my ambition. Alas, I didn’t make the grade.
However, it was the next best thing to see my son playing at the Riverside and live my dream (he was the blonde on the Knight’s team that Mark Proctor kept referring to as Dirk Kuyt).
Thanks again and let’s hope that our pleasure on the night has helped to bring a ray of sunshine and a little hope to those poor kids in Iraq.
A truly memorable night and one that you in particular should be rightly proud of.
Best regards,
Hi Everyone,
Eric and Simon summed it up superbly and I couldn’t agree more. It was great to participate in a game played in great spirits at the Riverside. My poor body doesn’t know what hit it and I’m still sore writing this, but I haven’t been able to get the smile off my face reliving Monday night in my mind. Thank you very much Fr. Paul for giving me the opportunity to live the dream and thanks to all who participated on the night. It was great to meet so many Boro fans and I hope I can meet some of you again the next time I travel over for a Boro match.
Up the Boro!
Hi folks - it was a great night and what a fantastic bunch of team mates and opponents you all were. Another time, another place and I could have been reading your name out for real at the Riverside after running out to Pigbag. Okay maybe not, but for the majority of 30 and 40 somethings a chance to relive our childhood and think we were indeed Graeme Souness, John Hickton or Juninho. I hope we’ll all be able to afford same again next year for a great cause and would like to thank those behind the scenes for putting it together. I’m also hoping I’ll be able to walk straight/again sometime next week. Bye bye now. Me Mark
Mark Page
Hello All,
I would just like to add my thanks to Fr Paul for coming up with the idea, the club for allowing us to play, everyone who helped out on the day, the fans, the gaffer (Steve Vickers what a gent) and you guys.
The game was played in the right spirit and both teams played some decent football and I am sure we were good value for the £2.00 admission fee!
I felt so proud and honoured when we ran out and it was lovely to see all my family in the stands cheering on. The match gave me a good idea of how the professionals must feel in front of 30 odd thousand. Going to “The Riverside” will never be the same again.
And not forgetting we raised a cracking amount for such a worthwhile cause.
All the best
Gentlemen
What can I say…I didnt get the honour of playing alongside you all, I just helped my little (43 year old) brother Derrick to submit and win his bid to play… hence copied into e-mail… but my whole family watched the game (we came up from Hull), and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was only slightly jealous as I was outbid at the last minute to play myself (I never would have managed even 45 mins)… but sitting in the quite large crowd was a pleasure… YOU ALL ACTUALLY PLAYED WELL!.
Anyway, thanks for a great evenings entertainment… you did the Boro proud!
Fr Paul…you are a star!
Best regards
Hi Everyone,
Well what can I say?!
After a sleepless night reliving our game over and over, followed by a day in the Treatment Room I have finally managed to get enough movement back into some joints to be able to drop you a line.
Monday night was a great occasion. Thanks to each one of you for the part you played.
We have raised at least £13,500 probably nearer £14,000 if you allow us we will be able to claim the Tax back at no extra cost to you.
I personally couldn’t believe that I was actually on the pitch and the crowd were great too.
The photos are great and I’ll get them in the post to you all over the next couple of days. Hope you like the one I have attached.
I can’t find the words to thank you all for the way in which we raised this money together.
Everything - the amount raised, the way we played the game and the whole spirit of the occasion was so special.
With deep gratitude to you all,
Fr Paul Farrer
Hi Father and everybody else!
I have to say that reading these e-mails all week has been absolutely fantastic. It has kept all the memories fresh and even brought back little things like seeing my name on the scoreboard and the excitement in the dressing room beforehand! Like everyone else I’ve been reliving the experience over and over in my head all week.
I just want to say thank you (on behalf of myself and my brother David) for giving us the opportunity to help you towards your fundraising target and for enabling us to participate in a wonderful event. Please say that we will get the chance to do it all again next year???!!!!
I was lucky enough to play in the Football Aid Match the following day at the Riverside (I was on the winning team in that one!) which was also enjoyable. However it simply didn’t compare to the atmosphere that the organisers, players, fans and officials helped to generate on Monday night. We were all part of something special and I will never forget it.
Thanks again and good luck with your reaching your target.
Regards
Ps: In telling people about the match and your fundraising efforts I’ve collected a little more money to donate. Let me know when is best to drop it off.
Dear Paul
Sorry I’m a bit late in responding, but I would just like to thank everyone who was involved in the event for all their kind words and participation, although it was a dream come true for certainly me and everybody, I would just like everyone to think of all the lives we have saved and we should all be proud to have raised as much money as we did.
I was a bit surprised at the amount of injuries that occured, me being one of the worst, the tackle I suffered resulted in a torn ligament below the knee, which meant I could not play at St James’s park on the Friday, but you know what, it was worth getting injured for as I will never forget my experience, at least I can say I scored at the Riverside even though it was ruled out right at the end for offside, yet the Knights Club 2nd goal was offside too, yet the linesman let it stand. Football is a funny old game. But I’m really glad my 9 month old son was there to see me as well, and if any events ever happen like this in the future, then I would gladly save as much money as I could again and give it all to a good cause cos at the end of the day the amount of money dosnt matter as long as I know we are helping the people who need it. Once again I would like to thank all the players as I think everyone played really well and gave all their energy that night and also all the staff who were great and the managers of course. But most of all I would like to thank you Father Paul for giving me the opportunity to bid and to live out my dream.
Thanks everyone.