Post by We Are Premier League on Jun 10, 2008 14:04:42 GMT
10/06/2008 - Stars come out for our Banksy
by Michael Baggaley
Former England internationals John Barnes, Peter Bonetti, Matt Le Tissier, Luther Blissett and Mike Pejic will pull on their boots for a charity football match between a Pele XI and a Gordon Banks XI at the Britannia Stadium on July 12.
The game is part of the celebrations accompanying the unveiling of a bronze statue of England World Cup-winner Banks by legendary Brazilian star Pele and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The event - Banks of England, A Celebration of Sport for Peace - has attracted a host of stars of sport and showbusiness.
The former England players will be joined by Liverpool goalscoring legend Ian Rush, former West Ham and Celtic striker Frank McAvennie, ex-Liverpool midfielder Jan Molby and former Stoke City player and manager Chris Kamara.
England cricketer and Stoke City fan Dominic Cork will also play, as will television stars James Nesbitt, Ralf Little and Richard Fleeshman.
Don Mullan, chairman of the Gordon Banks Committee, said stars were keen to play for teams managed by Banks and Pele.
The two legends were most memorably together in the Mexico 1970 World Cup when Banks pulled off the most famous save in the game's history to deny Pele's header.
Mullan added: "The whole idea of this event was harnessing the memory of that save and using it to save lives around the world.
"It is wonderful these people are willing to help raise money for local and international charities.
"The fact they have agreed shows the esteem in which they hold Gordon Banks. The fact Pele and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are coming is also to honour Gordon Banks."
Mullan and his committee are planning a number of events to fund the Banks monument at the Britannia Stadium.
However, the game itself will raise money for six charities.
Receipts to the Tutu Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children's Foundation and the Children in Crossfire Foundation will help people in Britain and Africa.
The Donna Louise Trust, the Sir Stanley Matthews Foundation and Stoke City's football in the community scheme will also benefit.
The event will feature a pre-match carnival with hundreds of local youngsters set to take part, plus a schools' football tournament.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council's elected mayor Mark Meredith said: "It is absolutely fantastic Pele and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are coming to Stoke-on-Trent to honour Gordon Banks in this way.
"This will be an historic day and we are delighted to play our part in helping to make sure it is never forgotten.
"This is a day the whole city can look forward to, and the city council is delighted to do all it can to make a sure it is remembered fondly by everyone.
"Gordon is a hero in this city and this country, and the fact so many different organisations are coming together to help celebrate him is testament to the esteem in which he is held."
Ian Lawson, main board director at sponsors Kier, added: "Gordon Banks, Pele and Desmond Tutu are world icons and July 12 will be a proud day for the city. We are honoured to be involved as an official sponsor and, like the rest of the city, are eager for the day to arrive."
Tickets for Banks of England - a Celebration of Sport for Peace, cost £12 for adults and £6 for under-16s, while family tickets for two adults and two children are £30 each. They can be booked on 0871 663 2007.
What the hell has tutu got to do with Gordon and Stoke? Is he just there to suck up some cash and throw it into the hole in the ground that is Africa? A celebration of sport for peace; what is wrong with just a celebration for Gordon the greatest keeper ever? I will go because of Gordon but I will be choking on the fact that some of my money is going down the drain!
What the hell has tutu got to do with Gordon and Stoke? Is he just there to suck up some cash and throw it into the hole in the ground that is Africa? A celebration of sport for peace; what is wrong with just a celebration for Gordon the greatest keeper ever? I will go because of Gordon but I will be choking on the fact that some of my money is going down the drain!
What the hell has tutu got to do with Gordon and Stoke? Is he just there to suck up some cash and throw it into the hole in the ground that is Africa? A celebration of sport for peace; what is wrong with just a celebration for Gordon the greatest keeper ever? I will go because of Gordon but I will be choking on the fact that some of my money is going down the drain!
Yeah, who wants any of this nancy-boy peace bollocks eh?
What the hell has tutu got to do with Gordon and Stoke? Is he just there to suck up some cash and throw it into the hole in the ground that is Africa? A celebration of sport for peace; what is wrong with just a celebration for Gordon the greatest keeper ever? I will go because of Gordon but I will be choking on the fact that some of my money is going down the drain!
Yep, not in my back yard. Lets just look after ourselves.
Very very sad. People try and do something special and to help others and you then get twats like you bringing them down.
I can see clearly now the rain has gone, I can see all obsticles in my way.Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It's going to be a bright bright sunshiny day.
What the hell has tutu got to do with Gordon and Stoke? Is he just there to suck up some cash and throw it into the hole in the ground that is Africa? A celebration of sport for peace; what is wrong with just a celebration for Gordon the greatest keeper ever? I will go because of Gordon but I will be choking on the fact that some of my money is going down the drain!
Yes Africa is a hole, but that is partly due to the levels of European exploitation for the last few centuries.
There speaks a (Pulis4England) man who has obviously spent a lot of time there trying to train the locals? Glad to hear that the usual party line about africa still has some mileage in it! Do you really thing that there would be any infrastructure at all in africa if Europeans had not set foot in the place? Would south africa be what it is without the Europeans? Once Europeans leave any of the african states they fall apart in no time; just look at Rhodesia! No doubt I will receive no end of replies from the left wing political correct mob whose limit of travel is Blackpool. Bitter; to right I’m bitter!
Post by stokey-pokey pudding and pie on Jun 11, 2008 3:18:34 GMT
we'll never know how africa would have developed without european intervention, but we can guess. the societies in the north of africa(which were largely left alone in the 16th and 17th century(because they had no diamonds mainly) flourished and became advanced societies. It wasnt till the 20th century that europeans started to use egypt, tunisia, libya etc as military bases/ trade. since then these countries have been pushed back to civil war and economic crisis dozens of times.
sub saharan africa was carved up into colonies long before then. their main export goods - oil, gemstones, sugar, tobacco, cocoa were all stolen by the dutch, the spanish, portuguese, germans and the brits and used to prop up the european economies. so our economy grew off the back of diamonds(slave mined) from the congo and tanzania, cocoa from mozambique, liberia, ghana etc etc etc
so if those products had been mined by africans for african profit by african workers for african economies, then africa could now be a very different place. all countries have some sources of natural wealth, africa is the worlds best example of what happens when the world develops off the back of smaller countries and those countries are left with very little to sell.
this is why african states are fucked, they're part of an advanced world economy but are still backward socially(largely because their development was stifled by centuries of exploitation and slavery and economically backward because their natural resources have long been sold by someone else.
but no worries we'll send em geldoff and bono - theyll sort it out ;-)
Steino SHOULD be there. He was born in South Africa wasn't he? I was told that Desmond Tutu's his dad so he'll get a game. Lesser reasons have worked for Ant Pulis ;D
