Written by Martin O'Donnell
, Monday, 13 July 2009 23:59
By Stevie Clark - Committee Member for Glasgow and West of Scotland.
On the 21st May, my Wife Bernie and I had the honour and privilege to attend the Legends & Youth Ball at the Emirates Stadium as representatives of Arsenal Scotland. This was due to our supporters club being one of the five largest fundraisers for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
It was a grand affair and gave Bernie the chance to dress up a bit. The evening started with an hour of cocktails in the Woolwich lounge, where Bernie and I mixed with the likes of Phil Tuffnell and Rory McGrath both die hard Gooners. At 8pm we were called to the dining area, which you can see from the pics was stunning in it's set up. Dinner was provided by James Martin the celebrity chef and what a delight it was starting with salmon, followed by beef which was absolutely the best I have ever tasted, it was completed with bread & butter type sweet which was made with a white chocolate sauce, to die for. Bernie is a big fan of James Martin and he was happy to break way from his busy schedule to pose for a picture with Bernie, indeed the night got better for her when James joined us at the bar for a drink after dinner and gave her a few cooking tips, which she has since put into practice, with fantastic results.
The evening itself was compered by Matt Lucas from Little Britain, another Gooner, who I felt was surprisingly nervous.
I managed to reach the last 60 or so of the heads or tails quiz hosted by Tuffers and Rory McGrath. Arsene Wenger was then introduced by Geoff Shreeves as the club's greatest ever manager, this received a rousing reception.
Arsene spoke about the clubs link with the charity and thanked all who had raised funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust, Arsene then introduced Roger Daltrey of the Who, himself a patron of the trust. Roger thanked Arsenal and everyone who had helped raise a massive £300,000 prior to to the night. Roger then introduced a young guy who had benefited from the work of the trust, it was very moving indeed.
The entertainment was provided by The Who, who went through a 5 song set and were followed by VV Brown a young up and coming soul artist from London, the evening of entertainment was completed by DJ Judge Jules.
The fund raising side was by way of a silent auction of items which could be bid for by using pads provided on the tables, unfortunately bids were way out of my range. The open auction was hosted by Geoff Shreeves, the highlight being Theo outbidding Abou Diaby and Samri Nasri to a Puff Diddy makeover(£9000).The total raised for the charity overall was a staggering £500,000 +.
The obvious reason for the evening was to raise much needed funds for the charity and rightly so, but the highlight for me was when during sweet we were invited to obtain pictures/autographs from the players/celebs. As you can see I managed to get a few and managed to have a chat with the boss, Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Rosicky in particular.
The evening ended at 1am and both Bernie and myself had an evening to remember and I would encourage anyone to attend any future ball, you will not be disappointed, the night will live with us for ever. Thank you to all at Arsenal and a special thanks to the Arsenal Scotland committee for choosing us to attend.
