Carra reveals Everton testimonial clash
Jamie Carragher will celebrate his Liverpool career with a testimonial match against an Everton X1 at Anfield on September 4. After months of planning, a host of past and present day players will don the red shirt to take on a David Moyes side and pay tribute to one of Liverpool's all-time great defenders.
With the date falling during an international break, those players not away with their countries will be involved in the game, while ex-Reds Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Dietmar Hamann, Jamie Redknapp and Michael Owen have also confirmed they will take part. Carragher is also hoping Sami Hyypia and Jerzy Dudek - both instrumental in the 2005 Champions League success and both now playing their football abroad - can return to Merseyside to be involved. All proceeds from the game will benefit local charities through Carragher's '23 Foundation'.
"It has been in the pipeline for four or five months and I've had to keep things quiet but I'm delighted now that I can start to talk about it properly," said Carragher. "Hopefully it should be a great occasion, one that the Merseyside public get behind. Every single penny that gets raised will be going to charity and it would nice to see the stadium full of families because that is what the day is going to be about. It's a huge honour to play for Liverpool and I just want to try and give something back.
"Everton and David Moyes have been brilliant from the very start. When I thought about the testimonial, I started looking at a few different teams and when it would be best to play it but Everton were always my first idea. If we had gone for a foreign team, they would have incurred appearance fees and travel costs which would have needed paying for but that is not what this game is going to be about; the money we raise is for the city of Liverpool and Merseyside in general. Obviously Everton have only got to cross over the park but they never had any interest in expense. Everyone knows I was an Evertonian when I was a kid and I just thought it would be appropriate for the two teams in my life to have a game of football."
As well as planning the main event, Carragher has also come up with an idea to enable children from two local primary schools to play on the hallowed Anfield turf at half-time, Carragher is hoping headteachers from schools in the area block book tickets for the match, and the two schools who book the most tickets will get to play. "The game between the schools is something that I am very passionate about," said Carragher. "It would be a fantastic opportunity for some of the kids to play at Anfield and hopefully there will be a big response."
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With the date falling during an international break, those players not away with their countries will be involved in the game, while ex-Reds Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Dietmar Hamann, Jamie Redknapp and Michael Owen have also confirmed they will take part. Carragher is also hoping Sami Hyypia and Jerzy Dudek - both instrumental in the 2005 Champions League success and both now playing their football abroad - can return to Merseyside to be involved. All proceeds from the game will benefit local charities through Carragher's '23 Foundation'.
"It has been in the pipeline for four or five months and I've had to keep things quiet but I'm delighted now that I can start to talk about it properly," said Carragher. "Hopefully it should be a great occasion, one that the Merseyside public get behind. Every single penny that gets raised will be going to charity and it would nice to see the stadium full of families because that is what the day is going to be about. It's a huge honour to play for Liverpool and I just want to try and give something back.
"Everton and David Moyes have been brilliant from the very start. When I thought about the testimonial, I started looking at a few different teams and when it would be best to play it but Everton were always my first idea. If we had gone for a foreign team, they would have incurred appearance fees and travel costs which would have needed paying for but that is not what this game is going to be about; the money we raise is for the city of Liverpool and Merseyside in general. Obviously Everton have only got to cross over the park but they never had any interest in expense. Everyone knows I was an Evertonian when I was a kid and I just thought it would be appropriate for the two teams in my life to have a game of football."
As well as planning the main event, Carragher has also come up with an idea to enable children from two local primary schools to play on the hallowed Anfield turf at half-time, Carragher is hoping headteachers from schools in the area block book tickets for the match, and the two schools who book the most tickets will get to play. "The game between the schools is something that I am very passionate about," said Carragher. "It would be a fantastic opportunity for some of the kids to play at Anfield and hopefully there will be a big response."
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