Source: Northern_Echo
Boro announce Gary Parkinson charity match
CELEBRITIES, sports stars, former Middlesbrough players and the club's shirt sponsor, Ramsdens, are coming together to support former Boro player Gary Parkinson at a Riverside benefit match.[LNB] The event, which kicks off at 4pm on Sunday, May 15, will raise funds for Parkinson, who had a stroke last year and has been left with a condition called Locked-in Syndrome, which means he can only communicate through blinking his eyes.[LNB] The devastating condition leaves the sufferer in a state where he or she is aware and awake, but cannot move, speak or swallow, due to paralysis of the muscles.[LNB] Boro players from the team of 1986, in which Parkinson starred, including Bernie Slaven, Colin Cooper, Stuart Ripley and Paul Kerr, will be playing for Thornaby-born Gary, who made 202 appearances for Boro between 1986 and 1993.[LNB] The match will also feature Riverside favourites Craig Hignett, John Hendrie, Steve Vickers, Dean Windass, Curtis Fleming, Dean Gordon, Marlon Beresford, Alan Moore, Graham Kavanagh, Neil Maddison and Jason Euell, together with Ayresome Park stars Mark Proctor, Billy Ashcroft and Terry Cochrane. Gary's son, Luke, is set to wear his dad's number two shirt.[LNB] A Boro XI will face a Ramsdens Celebrity XI, and full line-ups will be announced in the coming weeks.[LNB] Tickets, priced £10 for adults and £1 for Under-16s, are available now from the Riverside Stadium ticket office, MFC Official in Captain Cook Square, the nine Ramsdens shops across Teesside or by calling 0844 499 1234. Seats can also be purchased online.[LNB]
