Our patrons
We are privileged that our Patrons read as a Who’s Who in Football! With the likes of Eric Cantona, Sir Alex Ferguson, Alan Shearer and Harry Redknapp on our team, its no surprise that The FE has raised such funds for Nordoff Robbins and created such a huge following within football.
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Sir Alex Ferguson CBE
Sir Alex’s achievements in football are simply legendary. As manager of Manchester United, he has won 11 Premier League titles, 5 FA Cups, 4 League Cups and 2 Champions League trophies. Sir Alex received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and remains our highest ever fund-raiser in football. Raising £608,000 on his own night, and each year since, donating ‘money-cant-buy’ prizes to our auction. A legend in every way.
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Sir Bobby Charlton CBE
Described by Johnny Giles as ‘the greatest player I ever played with or against’, Sir Bobby Charlton has scored more goals for England and Manchester United than any other player – in 1968 he captained Manchester Utd to European Cup glory, scoring twice to help the side become the first English side to win the competition. One of Englands most prolific goalscorers and a huge part of the 1966 World Cup winning side. To our huge honour, we presented Sir Bobby with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.
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Tony Adams MBE
Tony entered our League of Legends in 2003 having spent his entire 22 year playing career with Arsenal. Considered one of the clubs greatest players of all time, amassing 504 appearances, becoming captain at the age of 21 until his retirement 14 years later. Tony played 55 games for England, and captained his country on our most successful international campaign for some time during Euro ‘96. To say Tony Adams is a crowd-favourite at the Football Extravaganza would be a profound understatement.
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Kenny Dalgish MBE
Throughout a 20 year playing career, Kenny played for Celtic and Liverpool and is the most capped Scottish International player, with 102 appearances for his country and 30 international goals - sharing the record for most goals scored for Scotland with Denis Law. In 2009 he was named the greatest striker in post-war British football by Four-Four-Two magazine. King Kenny, a true hero of the Kop is now back at the club many feel he belongs, Liverpool FC.
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Alan Shearer OBE
Alan received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, presented to him by Sir Alex Ferguson…as Alan quipped ‘its nice for Sir Alex to finally let him have a trophy’. Alan came within just £3,000 of equalling the fund-raising record, making £605,000 on the night. No stranger to record-breaking, Alan was a world-record breaker back in 1996 when he was bought by Newcastle United for £15million following his impressive performances for England at Euro ’96.
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Denis Law
Another record breaking football legend – setting two British transfer record fees, first with Manchester City and then again at Manchester United, not forgetting his still-standing record of 46 goals in a single season at Manchester United. We were honoured to welcome Denis to our League of Legends in 2008. The enthusiasm that our audience greeted him with was unsurpassed –with Denis giving an acceptance speech that bought back the very essence of the beautiful game.
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Teddy Sheringham MBE
An awesome 760 league appearances with 289 club goals, saw Teddy Sheringham being chosen to join our League of Legends in 2007, not to mention 51 international caps with 11 goals. Teddy won three Premier League titles with Manchester United and during the 98/99 season played a huge part in their winning the Treble. A regular supporter of our event who we are delighted to have as part of our team.
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Eric Cantona
Who else to be our first overseas Patron and award winner than the mercurial Frenchman? Best known in England for his 5 year spell at Manchester United where he played 185 games and scored 82 goals, winning 4 Premier League titles and 2 FA Cups. There are very few people who can silence The FE audience, however our magnifique Frenchman can lay claim to that honour too! Vive la France!
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Harry Redknapp
Described as a ‘proper old-fashioned football man, Harry Redknapp has long been a supporter of The Football Extravaganza and Nordoff Robbins and we were delighted to welcome him to the League of Legends in 2009. Having just won the FA Cup with Portsmouth, he was now at the helm of Tottenham Hotspur who he guided to UEFA Champions League for the first time. A wonderful example of a terrific man who many believe should be our next England manager.
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Alan Curbishley
Alan Curbishley is our only Patron to have been with us since the start, having been a huge supporter of Nordoff Robbins for some time. At the time he became Patron he was manager at Charlton Athletic and also enjoyed family music links (his brother Bill is manager of The Who) so was well positioned to give us the lift we needed from the kick-off. So many of our high-scoring auction prizes have been thanks to Alan and each year, without fail, he brings another magical element to the night.
