Premier League All Stars


Premier League All Stars was a televised charity football tournament, which was broadcast live on Sky1 on consecutive nights between 23 September and 30 September 2007. The innovative format features football teams representing all 20 Premier League clubs, each playing to win a share of the £300,000 prize money for distribution among their chosen charities. All matches were played in front of a live audience at Premier League All Star Arena which was built inside the David Beckham Academy in Greenwich, London.

Overview

The show was presented by Helen Chamberlain and Ian Wright, with pitchside reporting by former Liverpool and Australia forward Craig Johnston. Suzi Perry also presented in Helen Chamberlain's absence. An accompanying show, Premier League All Stars Extra Time, aired straight after the show on Sky3, hosted by Jason Manford.
Each 10-man squad consisted of 4 professional players, 3 celebrity supporters and 3 ordinary fans picked from a large number of applicants.
The competition was won by underdogs Middlesbrough with celebrity Alistair Griffin scoring the winning goal in the last minute. The team was presented with the All Stars 2007 trophy together with £100,000 prize money for their two nominated charities, the Butterwick Children's’ Hospice and Teesside Hospice.
Runners up West Ham United won £30,000 for the Bobby Moore Fund and Richard House Hospice.

The teams

Arsenal

Goalkeeper - Vince Bartram
Legend -, Paul Davis,
Celebrities - Ziggy Lichman, Mark Ramprakash, Leeroy Thornhill
Fans - Tommy McNally, Vernon Angel, Stelios Ekkeshis

Aston Villa

Goalkeeper - Dale Belford
Legends - Dean Saunders, David Platt, Ian Taylor
Celebrities - Gareth Gates, Lord Taylor of Warwick, Rick Parfitt Jr
Fans - Mark Quinn, Ian Wilkinson, Paul Quinn

Birmingham City

Goalkeeper - Kevin Miller
Legends - Paul Devlin, Steve Claridge, Martin Grainger, Dennis Bailey
Celebrities - Dennis Seaton, Robert McCracken, Nigel Clark
Fans - Stuart Kane, Caius Kane, Perry Hemmings

Blackburn Rovers

Goalkeeper - Alan Fettis
Legends - Simon Garner, Matt Jansen, Craig Short
Celebrities - Neil Arthur, Wayne Hemingway, Steven Pinder
Fans - Jack Hemingway, Anthony Watson, David Butterworth

Bolton Wanderers

Goalkeeper - Carl Blundell
Legends - Frank Worthington, Andy Walker, Michael Johansen
Celebrities - Sheephead, Ian Aspinall, Sajid Mahmood, Tony Knowles
Fans - Nathan Cooper, Alan Mitchell, Alex Harvie

Chelsea

Goalkeeper - Peter Bonetti
Legends - Ruud Gullit, Roberto Di Matteo, Kerry Dixon, Gustavo Poyet
Celebrities - Ross Kemp, Omid Djalili, Alec Stewart
Fans - Gary Field Judan Ali

Derby County

Goalkeeper - Steve Cherry
Legends - Dean Sturridge, Darryl Powell, Darren Wassall
Celebrities - Dominic Cork, Des Coleman, Jamie Baulch
Fans - Andy Wheeler, Chad Potter, Andy Mason

Everton

Goalkeeper - Neville Southall
Legends - Dave Watson, Adrian Heath
Celebrities - Donny Tourette, Simon O'Brien, Lee Latchford Evans, Graham Rooney
Fans - Peter McPartland, David Lyon, Vinny Hughes, Simon Marshall

Fulham

Goalkeeper - Dave Beasant
Legends - Wayne Collins, Rufus Brevett, Bjarne Goldbaek
Celebrities - Example, Andy Scott-Lee, Jim Jeffries
Fans - Kevin Taylor, Adam Di Mambro

Liverpool

Goalkeeper - Bob Bolder
Legends - Phil Neal, Jason McAteer, Ray Houghton
Celebrities - Colin Murray, Euan Blair, Dave Gorman
Fans - Nick Haycraft, Graeme Inman, Paul Smith

Manchester City

Goalkeeper - Andy Dibble
Legends - Rodney Marsh, Nicky Summerbee, Fitzroy Simpson, Keith Curle
Celebrities - Ant Genn, Nigel Bond, Jason Manford, Nick Leeson
Fans - Tom Beddard, Rory McDowell, Lee Jones

Manchester United

Goalkeeper - Fraser Digby
Legends - Lee Sharpe, Ray Wilkins, Clayton Blackmore, Arthur Albiston
Celebrities - Angus Deayton, Mark Chapman, Darren Campbell
Fans - Matt Fisher, Dave Rimmer, Phil Ringer

Middlesbrough

Goalkeeper - Jim Platt
Legends - Mikkel Beck, Craig Hignett, Bernie Slaven
Celebrities - Alistair Griffin, Mark Stobbart, Gary Havelock
Fans - Julian McGuire, Tony Rovardi, Steven Aithwaite

Newcastle United

Goalkeeper - Kevin Carr
Legends - Rob Lee, Warren Barton, John Beresford
Celebrities - Anthony Hutton, Simon Donald, Jonathan Edwards
Fans - Doug Grant, Rob Hedley, Dean Russo

Portsmouth

Goalkeeper - George White
Legends - Paul Walsh, Guy Whittingham, Andy Awford
Celebrities - John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood, Marcus Patrick, Adger Brown
Fans - Alan Knight, Dan Shaw, Josh Norton

Reading

Goalkeeper - Scott Howie
Legends - Michael Gilkes, Mick Gooding, Barry Hunter
Celebrities - Mark Rumble, Michael Sprott, James Fox
Fans - Mark Croydon, Darren Webb, Ben Fisher

Sunderland

Goalkeeper - Iain Hesford
Legends - Marco Gabbiadini, Steve Watson, Don Goodman, John Byrne
Celebrities - Liam McGough, Joe Simpson, John Nayagam, Rocky Marshall
Fans - Paul Hewitson, Mick Hall, Craig Hubbard

Tottenham Hotspur

Goalkeeper - Espen Baardsen
Legends - Nayim, David Howells, Micky Hazard
Celebrities - Phil Cornwell, John Altman, John Pickard
Fans - Tony Sutton, Lee Barr, James Duckworth

West Ham United

Goalkeeper - Allen McKnight
Legends - Tony Cottee, Frank McAvennie, John Moncur, Kevin Keen
Celebrities - Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Geoff Bell, Roland Manookian
Fans - Julian Hilaire, Matthew Crook, Chris Whitelock

Wigan Athletic

Goalkeeper - Simon Farnworth
Legends - David Lowe, Stuart Barlow, Colin Greenall
Celebrities - Martin Offiah, Jez Edwards, Paul Tonkinson
Fans - Paul Knowles, Dean Gore, Darren Cole

Competition Format

The games are played indoors in a custom-built futuristic arena and are based on standard FA seven-a-side rules, but with a handful of innovations. The key rules: Matches are ten minutes each way. Play starts with 'The Drop', where the ball is dropped from a chute in the ceiling 10m above the centre spot. The last minute of each half is deemed a 'PowerPlay', any goals scored during that time count double. Players guilty of persistent foul play are shown a blue rather than yellow card and spend two minutes in 'The Cooler'.
The competition is a knock-out format. However, due to the number of teams involved, two of the winning ten teams in the first round are also eliminated as 'Worst Winners' so that only eight teams remain to contest the quarter finals and beyond. This means that it is not enough simply to win the first-round game - to avoid elimination, teams also have to win well, which is designed to encourage attacking play and scoring more goals.

The Games

The matches are refereed by Dermot Gallagher. Other officials included Steve Dunn as time-keeper, with Peter Cruise and Peter Gill as bench officials. Commentary is provided by Andy Burton and Steve Claridge, though Rodney Marsh and Tony Cottee have been co-commentators when Claridge played for the Birmingham team.

Day 1 (23/9/07)

Group 1: Manchester United 3 Blackburn Rovers 1
Group 1: Manchester City 3 Everton 0

Day 2 (24/9/07)

Group 1: West Ham United 4 Reading 0
Group 1: Wigan Athletic 5 Tottenham Hotspur 2 Goals scored by Jez Edwards, Paul Knowles x 2, and Dean Gore

Day 3 (25/9/07)

Group 1: Liverpool 3 Derby County 3
Group 2: Chelsea 5 Bolton Wanderers 2

Day 4 (26/9/07)

Group 2: Sunderland 6 Aston Villa 3
Group 2: Middlesbrough 3 Newcastle United 3

Day 5 (27/9/07)

Group 2: Birmingham City 3 Portsmouth 1
Group 2: Arsenal 1 Fulham 1
Manchester United, Manchester City, West Ham United and Wigan Athletic progressed as the best four winners from group 1.
Chelsea, Sunderland, Middlesbrough And Birmingham City progressed as the best four winners from group 2.

Day 6 (28/9/07)

Quarter Final: Manchester United 0 Manchester City 0
Quarter Final: West Ham United 5 Wigan Athletic 2

Day 7 (29/9/07)

Quarter Final: Middlesbrough 2 Birmingham City 0
Quarter Final: Chelsea 0 Sunderland 2

Day 8 (30/9/07)

Semi Final: Middlesbrough 2 Sunderland 0
Semi Final: Manchester United 2 West Ham United 3
Premier League All Stars Final: Middlesbrough 3 West Ham United 1