Ossie dream turns sour for sad Gary
Organiser Gary Kirton claims he is £1,000 out of pocket after being let down by former football stars including Ossie Ardiles.
Tottenham legend Ardiles, ex-England winger Trevor Sinclair and former Wigan man Jimmy Bullard were among those to pull out of a charity match at the Gallagher Stadium at short notice, while Dean Windass, who helped Hull City to the Premier League, withdrew two weeks before.
Kirton, who runs Ashford Charity Funds, had hoped to raise thousands of pounds for Cancer Research and the Pilgrims Hospice but was left counting the cost as Sunday’s All-Stars versus Legends match flopped.
He said: “I built the whole thing up around Ossie Ardiles being there and he let me down at 24 hours’ notice.
“He’s apologised and is giving us a load of stuff to auction off and hopefully he’s going to do a sportsman’s dinner.
“I’ve given him a couple of dates, so it’s in his hands now. He’s got the chance to make it up.
“I spent six months of my life organising this game and I won’t be putting myself through that again. It was a total wipe-out, it’s heartbreaking.
“I was expecting to see 2,000 people there and to raise £10,000.
“Instead, there were 350 if I’m lucky and I’ve ended up £1,000 out of pocket.
“People don’t realise how much it costs to put something like this on.”
There were some famous faces, with former Spurs and Liverpool defender Neil Ruddock and another Spurs man, Micky Hazard, in attendance as the AllStars beat the Legends 8- 6, while Alan Mullery (Spurs, Fulham and England) stepped in to present trophies in place of Ardiles.
Hazard has offered to organise a charity game on Kirton’s behalf next year.
Kirton said: “I was hoping to do 10 of these matches. The first eight raised £70,000 and the ninth was a disaster. I hated it.
“I’m not doing another one but Micky Hazard swears he’ll get the 10th one going.”
The small crowd did at least get to see Maidstone parade their National South play-off trophy, while United boss Jay Saunders turned out for the legends.