BRISTOL TRIP HOP LEGENDS PORTISHEAD, MASSIVE ATTACK AND RONI SIZE TO PLAY AT LOCAL FOOTBALL CLUB
When we first saw Geoff Barrow of Portishead Tweet ‘Portishead, Massive Attack, Roni Size + others all @ Portishead Football Club on Sunday 4th Sept’ our jaws fell to the floor. What a line up! Further investigation revealed that he was talking about a charity football match, rather than a gig. Still pretty awesome though!
Basically, Portishead are getting together to raise money for the town that gave them their world famous name. On Sunday 4th September founder members of the band are organising a special charity football match. The musicians, and dozens of their celebrity friends, will play members of the Veterans team at Portishead Football Club. And Barrow has the support of drum and bass star Roni Size and Daddy G from Massive Attack. Also in the celebrity team are Heartbeat and Casualty actors Johnny Kerrigan and Vincenzo Pellegrino. Also putting his boots on for the day will be former Bristol Rovers manager Paul Trollope who now works for Birmingham City.
It is the first time a match like this has happened in the town and it is to help raise money for the club as it was broken into a few years ago and thousands of pounds were stolen. The club has struggled financially ever since. So Barrow – who grew up in the town – decided to step in to help. He got together with the local organisation Kicking Out for Kids which arranges celebrity sporting events to raise funds for charities. Many more famous faces from across the west will also be taking to the pitch on the day. Kick off for the game – which is the inaugural league game for the veterans team – is at 2:30pm. Tickets are £2 and people can also donate money on the website. Also benefiting from the day’s proceeds will be the nearby Childrens’ Hospice South West at Wraxall.
Geoff said: “When I was growing up in Portishead the football club was really important. Loads of my friends played in teams there and it was a focal point for the community. I was always more into music at that time but I know how important it was to many people. I had the idea for a Portishead celebrity team versus a Portishead football team because the town has grown massively in the last 10 years. I feel it’s time to get some awareness out to new people living there that the football club exists”. He added: “I’ll have just come back from touring with the band so I’ll probably need to lose a few pounds. Also many of us in the band team are a bit rusty on the pitch so we might see some pretty shocking levels of football on our side! Especially as the Portishead veterans look quite tasty on the field. The football club has also put in a bar at the side of the pitch which I think its a plan to distract the musicians from the game. Joking aside, a local football club like Portishead is incredibly important to the community. Like many local sports or social clubs they are rarely properly funded and have to rely on a group of devoted volunteers. This is my chance to do something for the town. If it goes well we hope to make it a yearly event.”
John Shaddick, Chair of Portishead Football Club said: “We are delighted that Geoff from Portishead is bringing a celebrity team to play our Veterans inaugural league game. It really will raise awareness amongst new people in the town that the club is here and that we welcome new members and players. It will be great to see so many famous faces from across the west playing on our pitch and I know our Veterans Team is training hard to give them a run for their money.”
More info at www.kickingoutforkids.org.uk
