THE organisers of a charity football match at the County Ground tonight are hoping it will smash its fundraising target of £10,000.
Former West Ham United player Julian Dicks is the latest name to be added to the star-studded line-up, which will see a Paolo Di Canio XI take on a Wiltshire Air Ambulance side from 7pm.
Town hero Lou Macari is set to return to the dugout, while former players Chris Kamara, Fraser Digby and Lee Peacock will also take to the hallowed turf again.
So far 2,000 tickets have been sold and Caroline Corrigan, head of fundraising for WAA, said she was hopeful of beating the target through ticket sales, a charity auction and donations from fans on the night.
She said: “We wanted to get 2,000 people in and hopefully, if the weather picks up, we might get a few more, which would be brilliant.
“If we raise £10,000 that pays for the air ambulance to stay in the air for five days.
“We were lucky to get Lou Macari to come back as Castrol, who sponsor the event, approached him and he said yes.
“I’m so excited about it because he is a bit of a legend.
“We’ve got a great team of former Town stars and people like Jonathan Wilkes but we haven’t got a striker yet. I think Paolo is getting a bit nervous about it, though.”
Local actor and singer Jonathan Wilkes, who runs the Wilkes Academy, said he was looking forward to playing and already had the upper hand on Paolo after the Italian was on the losing side in Soccer Aid a few years ago.
He said: “We played against each other in Soccer Aid in 2008 and England won 4-3 so I’m 1-0 up on him.
“It’s a privilege to be asked to play and it’s for a great charity too.
“Soccer Aid is also coming up, so it will be good preparation for that as well.”
Tickets cost £5 for adults and £3 for concessions and are available from the Swindon Town box office on www.swindon townfc.co.uk or 0871 876 1993.
Meanwhile, tickets are still available for the club’s end of season celebration on Sunday, headlined by the Lightning Seeds, at the County Ground. Tickets are free for anyone who had a season ticket for this season or has one for next season, while they can buy one additional ticket for £5.
Non-season ticket holders who present a Wembley stub or their Port Vale ticket can get in for £5 or general admission is £10.
Tickets are available in person from the STFC Box Office or via phone on 0871 876 1993.
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