Sunday 9th April 2012

For most of us, Easter Sunday is a time to munch chocolate and relax, but that was definitely not the case not for a group of football stars yesterday.



It was a star-studded team sheet at Staveley's Inkersall Road ground at lunchtime, as stars of the Premiership and stage and screen (even one member of the Royle family!) turned out to raise money for three very worthy causes (above).

Tesco workers from Lockoford Lane also had a dream shift as they took on an ex-Arsenal X1 which included the likes of Jimmy Carter (ex Arsenal), Chris Whyte (also a former Gunner) and Tony Murtach.



Stars such as Ralf Little from the Royle Family (above) and Patrick Robinson (Casualty) were also part of the Arsenal Charity team.

The match, organised by Tesco's Craig Tromans, saw both teams compete for the 'Barry Herberts Memorial Trophy' - in memory of Tesco employee Chris Herbert's father who lost his battle with a brain tumour last year.

The charities benefitting from the event - which saw Inkersall Road packed with families enjoying the bouncy castle, magician and cheerleaders - are Brain Tumour UK, The Alzheimers Society (Tesco's charity of The Year 2012) and the Arsenal Charitable Trust.



The Mayor and Mayoress of Chesterfield were in attendance and were introduced to the teams before the match began (above).

Tesco's Community Champion Jackie Boland had organised the event with Craig who was busy on the pitch, and she told us why the event was so important to the store, "I'm impressed with the amount of support. To see a turnout like this is the best thing. We have managers, night staff, day staff here, it's amazing! Alzheimer's is our charity this year, but Brain Tumour UK is our personal charity for the store and it's lovely to be able to support Chris and his family and give something back."

We caught up with Ralf Little too who was looking forward to trying out the pitch at Staveley but who had a confession to make about the trip here.

Firstly however, he told us what he was up to at the moment, "Last year, I wrote (and was in) a comedy for Sky1 - 'The Cafe' - which Craig Clay directed and mentored with the writing. That got great reviews so thankfully, we're doing a second series and I'm in the middle of writing that. I don't enjoy it as much; it's harder work. Acting you basically turn up and have loads of fun, but when you've written it, it's like your baby and everything matters and all the actors are saying your words - sometimes they say it how you imagined it and sometimes it's better - but sometimes it's worse! It's the weight of responsibility. I'm really glad I've done it, but in terms of pure fun, acting is easier!"

He went on, "Today is massive - I've driven from deepest, darkest Sussex to be here. We're trying to raise money for a very important cause and people are expecting us to be here. My missus wasn't best pleased as we were on holiday in Suffolk - she's been away working and I went 'Oh yeah, by the way, Sunday I have to do a four hour drive to go and play football’ - she wasn't impressed!

"But that's how important it is, we're here for a very important reason, and of course, it's playing football and doing what I love doing. It would have been foolish for me not to have made the effort! It's a privilege to be giving something back - if me being here makes a few people turn up and raise a little bit more money, then that's what's important."


The Tesco team line up ready to face Arsenal's Charity Team

And two of the football stars explained to us just why they turned out for events like this. Chris Whyte and Jimmy Carter are ex Arsenal professionals and turn out regularly for the Charity team. Jimmy told us first though about his time at Arsenal, "We're looking forward to the game today. I loved it at Arsenal, we go back a long way, it was a fantastic time. We were winning trophies and we had lots of good players - it was a really exciting time."

He added that it's a bonus to be able to still play, "We're In a privileged position - we've had our careers and it's nice to meet up with the ex pros and get our boots on, but it's great to give something back and raise money for some very important causes."

A sentiment echoed by Chris Whyte who went on to explain just why it's so important to turn out for charity teams, "It's really good to do something for a good cause, for kids and problems. I feel that playing in charity games is giving something back. You look at footballers and what they earn and it's nice to go to places, play, and have people appreciate you coming along."

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