Celebrities and football legends will join forces at Oldham Athletic for the third Manchester Remembers charity football match, with Tom Clare and Kai Fagan signed up.
The event, which takes place in July at Boundary Park has raised over £117,000 for charities which were set up by the families of victims after the Manchester Arena attack in 2017.
The Manchester Remembers Foundation was co-founded by Aaron Lee, a firefighter and former police officer who was a first responder on the scene following the attack.
Aaron said: “I’ve been heavily involved with the families since the night it happened and have done a lot of fundraising of my own for the cause.
“I looked at doing something similar to Soccer Aid, but a Manchester version with the city being known for football and music.
“We wanted to do something really special for the fifth anniversary.”
The foundation has helped raise money for the charities including The Chloe and Liam Together Trust, Liv’s Trust, Eilidh’s Trust, The Megan Hurley Foundation and The Remembering Nell Foundation.
£82,000 was raised in the inaugural match at Manchester City’s Academy Stadium and last year’s match raised £35,000.
Aaron added: “It’s not just the families that have responded to this, everyone has played their part and it gives them remembrance.
“It’s people coming out together and the families feel a real sense of support when thousands of people come out to the games.”
The charity match has seen former Manchester United Footballers Wes Brown and Danny Simpson take part, along with celebrities Colin Manford and Paddy McGuinness.
Manchester native Ricky Hatton has also announced he will be returning to help raise money for the charities.
“Everyone who is involved play their part in helping attract fans. Hundreds of thousands of followers really help with video messages and retweets and posting about the game.
“We couldn’t do it without them, even with Oldham Athletic and Manchester City posting on social media it gives us a bigger reach as we want to fill the stadiums.”
General admission tickets for the game on 28 July are £10 for adults and £5 for under 16’s. Hospitality packages start at £65 for adults and £45 for under 16’s.
Tickets are on sale now and information can be found here.