'Legends vs Students' football match takes place

Published: 24 September 2019

Students involved in the legends vs students football match.

The annual St George’s students vs legends football match took place at Tooting and Mitcham Sports ground on Saturday 14 September.

Sponsored by Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), this year’s match had a particular resonance as it took place in memory of St George’s paramedic and footballer, Olly King, who sadly passed away earlier this year.

The game pits a team of current St George’s students against a team of St George’s alumni. For the first time in over a decade, the St George’s legends came out on top winning 6-4.

One of the St George’s legends, and co-organiser of the day, Matt Bayly, commented, “We raised a massive £343 for CRY purely from donations on the day of the game. Spectators paid £1 to watch the match which were kindly donated. Badges, wrist bands and stickers, amongst other merchandise, were also on sale from a brilliant CRY representative, Carl.

“Everything we raised is going towards getting a mobile cardiac screening unit to Olly’s home town of Torquay. The generosity of the spectators and players was mind blowing and everyone is so thankful for the donations."

- St George’s legend, and co-organiser of the day, Matt Bayly. -

“The day was stunning. Having Olly’s family there watching on as the football team celebrated his life and raised money for their cause was just priceless. The emotion, compassion and love shown during the day was like nothing I’ve seen before. It was great for the legends team to win having not done so for so long and I think the day overall was a huge success.

“We’re hoping CRY want to come back and sponsor the event again next year and keep the connection with Olly in the club for as long as possible. A massive thanks has to go to Adam Lebby and Harry Phillips as they were co-organisers. A brilliant team effort created a memorable day.”

Fellow organiser, Adam Lebby, added, “After Olly sadly passed away, we decided it would be apt to use the game as both a charity event and to honour his memory by inviting his family and friends to watch.

“The three of us were all quite nervous leading up to the event as we didn’t know whether what we had done was adequate. It was great so many people came down to watch and make the day the success that it was.

“I think everybody involved had a fantastic day and it was a pleasure to see so many people get involved for a great cause.”

Legends and current student teams.