Hastings Magpies have tonight announced that Notts County Legend Charlie Palmer will be coaching them for their Meadow Lane fixture against Nottingham City Transport on May 6th; Palmer joins actor David Easter who will be managing the team. Freddie Place tells us more about how this amazing event came about and what to expect on the day.
The Hastings Magpies are a football charity that was recently formed to commemorate the life of Notts County fan Ben Hastings, who sadly passed away in 2018 at the age of 31 due to skin cancer. Ben has been described as a caring, very thoughtful and brilliant all-round guy. Although he was a private and quiet person, friends say he came out of his shell at Notts games, shouting passionately or getting mardy if they lost. Ben embodied passion for sport and was a man who was taken away too soon into his life.
Since being formed, Hastings Magpies have not only made donations that have benefited the local community, but also have had ex-Celtic and Nottingham Forest defender Kelvin Wilson play for them. Kelvin had many mutual friends and had heard about Hastings through positive word of mouth. Having made over 758 appearances and scoring thirty goals for 14 different clubs, Hastings say ‘Kelvin played with real passion, pride and integrity’.
At the last fixture, Hastings Magpies raised money and donated £1700 to Nottingham City Hospital Hogarth ward; they once cared for and looked after Ben so his friends and family wanted to reach out with a huge donation.
The upcoming game was originally meant to be against Hollyoaks, but the date of the game interfered with a another charity fixture the celebrity team were playing. The reason the Nottingham City Transport fixture is happening is due to one of the players’ dads having been a Nottingham City bus driver for over 15 years.
This time they will be playing on bank holiday Monday, May 6th, taking place at Meadow Lane; with Lionheart Print proudly sponsoring them and all proceeds going to When You Wish Upon a Star, they may well see the previous donation of £1700 being eclipsed.
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