Robbie Williams to miss Unicef game
July 23, 2008
Stoke’s finest, and ardent Port Vale fan, Robbie Williams has picked up a knee injury that will keep him out of a Unicef charity game rematch against chef Gordon Ramsey’s ‘Rest of the World’ side.
The original game took place in 2006 where Robbie’s England IX defeated Ramsay’s rest of the World, despite Ramsay having Diego Maradonna in their line up.
The rematch is scheduled for September 7th and will be held at Wembley, screened on ITV and hosted by Ant and Dec. Both sides will feature 11 celebs, and 5 former professional footballers. The idea for the game was thought up by Robbie Williams and his friend Jonathan Wilkes.
Robbie spoke of his disappointment at missing the game:
Being able to help so many people through Soccer Aid was one of the true highlights of my life.
I’m gutted that this time around my knee isn’t up to it so, unfortunately, I’m out of the game.
Robbie’s replacement hasn’t been chosen yet, but his are a sizable pair of boots to fill. Whoever it is will have to captain a side featuring Alan Shearer, Jamie Redknap and Gareth Gates???
Ramsay’s team features former United legend Peter Schmeichel. The first game was won by Robbie’s team 2-1, despite Maradonna scoring a penalty, and raised a staggering £2.6 million for charity.
Port Vale hoping to avoid unwanted record
March 11, 2008
League One side Port Vale go into tonight’s match with rivals Crewe Alexandra with more than local pride to play for.
Vale are looking to halt a run of nine away defeats in succession – their worst run since 1971/2.
Even more astonishingly if the Alex were to claim maximum points this evening it would be Vale’s worst away run for over one hundred years. In 1895/6 the Valiants lost fifteen away matches on the bounce which is their current record.
The poor run of form which has seen Vale all but relegated to League Two began with the FA Cup defeat to non league Chasetown and has been followed up with reversals at Cheltenham, Notts Forest, Swansea, Hartlepool, Bristol Rovers, Doncaster, Millwall and Carlisle.
Within this period twenty goals have been conceded (which isn’t too bad I guess!) whilst only seven have been scored.
Boss Lee Sinnott has blamed a lack of continuity in the side as the cause of the poor run but Vale now need a minor miracle to avoid relegation to the league’s basement division.
