Hackney Wick All-Stars FC made their debut at the Theatre of Dreams, as they went head-to-head with Play Dirty FC, in the inaugural GAFFER x Chivas Regal game day.
The exhibition match at Old Trafford featured some of Britain’s biggest creative, musical, and sporting talent – alongside community changemakers – in the name of celebrating modern football culture.
For most of the talent on display, besides Chunkz, Young Filly, and Santan Dave, the match was their debut at the Manchester United stadium.
Recent happenings have shown the impact football can have on society, as seen in the past few months with the fight for equality and positive social change – and Footballers are made in their local areas on the grassroots pitches.
Play Dirty FC and the Wickers raised a combined £5,000 through the event towards charities of their choice.
UK rap legends Krept and Konan captained their Play Dirty side to an impressive 4-0 victory, with recently released Colchester United winger Callum Harriott running the show.
Despite being on the wrong end of the result, Wickers’ captains Harry Pinero and Elz the Witch could be proud of the shift their team put in.
Headie One put in a steady performance to win the Man of the Match award and will be disappointed not to get an assist after Jay1 failed to put his lobbed through ball in the back of the net.
The score-line could have been closer had rapper Youngs Teflon not blazed wide a gilt-edged chance.
David Vujanic robbed Hackney Wick founder Bobby Kasanaga of the opportunity to flash his name up in lights, and the community changemaker had no qualms about making it known in his Instagram posts later that day.
As winners, Play Dirty FC pledged £4,000 to Reach Out Project London, an early intervention mentoring programme for young people living in London.
The project is based in Krept's hometown of Croydon and appreciates the impact it is having.
“Big up Lillian, they’re doing amazing things for the youth," he said. "Activities, keeping them out of trouble, and yeah man it’s just something that we wish we could have had when we were younger, do you know what I mean?
"I wish a lot of my friends could have had that opportunity and it probably would have changed a lot of things, so it’s only right that we donated to the Reach Out Project, big up them.”
Hackney Wick donated £1,000 to their partner charity Grassroots For Good, which aims to enhance the grassroots game by providing progressive social change both on and off the pitch in their communities.
As celebrating culture and community within football was at the forefront of the event, a handful of semi-professional talents who play for Hackney Wick FC, had the opportunity to make an appearance and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Being the only semi-professional team in Hackney, the achievements Bobby Kasanga and his team have made are testament to the hard work they have put in over the past few years.
GAFFER has sponsored the club over the last year, and designed both kits for this exhibition game, with a map of the London Borough of Hackney featuring on the sleek design for the Wickers.
Seeing culture, music and the creatives combine with football to help raise awareness for causes in such a capturing way shows how powerful the industries can be.
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