Stoke City are to stage a testimonial match for former defender Andy Wilkinson, who announced his retirement in February.
The game will take place at the Britannia Stadium on Monday 16th May – 24 hours after the Potters’ final Barclays Premier League game of the season against West Ham United.
Andy, who spent 15 years at the club and made almost 200 appearances, was forced to call time on his playing career after failing to recover from a concussion injury that affected his vision.
Andy, who’s 31, was born in Yarnfield and went to the village’s first school before Walton Priory Middle and Alleyne’s High School, as it was called back then. He played for Stone Dominoes before joining Stoke City’s academy and making it all the way to the first team and the Premier League.
In the past he’s spoken about the importance of some key people in Stone.
Andy told the Staffordshire Newsletter: “My coach at Yarnfield First School, Mr Haswell, taught me how to play. We had some great school teams that won county cups from middle school with Mr James at Walton Priory, then Paul Stringer at Alleyne’s High School, where we won county and district cups. My manager at Stone Dominoes, Steve Fox, told me if I stick to playing in defence I could do really well, so I have to say a huge thank you to him.”
Andy was a key part of the Stoke City team that made it into the Premier League in the 2007-08 season, and played at Wembley twice in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final and final.
[box type=”shadow” ]City chief executive Tony Scholes said: “Andy was a real cult hero to our fans as a local lad who worked his way up through the ranks to make an impact on the first-team scene. Sadly, he had to cut short his playing career and we wanted to give him an opportunity to take centre-stage at the Britannia Stadium once again in his testimonial game.
“Andy intends to donate the proceeds from his game to local charities, which is a measure of the man and how much the Potteries means to him, and we’re sure the people of Stoke-on-Trent will show their appreciation of Andy’s career by supporting his testimonial.”[/box]
Further details regarding the game – and the charity partners Andy intends to support with the proceeds – will be announced soon. However, the club says the fixture will certainly involve current and past Stoke City stars.
Andy tweeted his reaction to news of his testimonial…
I’m so pleased to have my testimonial confirmed, hopefully between us we can raise some money and awareness for some great local charities!
— Andy Wilkinson (@wilkinson_28) March 17, 2016
