Living the dream of playing at The Valley alongside former Charlton Athletic greats, News Shopper reporter David Mills recently enjoyed 45 minutes of glory.
The event was organised by Football Aid, on behalf of charity Field of Dreams, which funds research into finding a cure for type one diabetes and supporting those who suffer from the condition.

It is every football fan’s dream come true – the chance to play on the hallowed turf of their favourite team.

I was lucky enough to get the chance to play 45 minutes for the Charlton home team against the Addicks away team.

The majority of players were fans who had each paid more than £300 to take part, which raised a total of £6,250.

Rolling back the years, players also included former Addicks legends Eddie Youds, Paul Williams, Paul Mortimer and Mark Kinsella, who despite being retired professionals in their late 30s to early 40s, showed they had not lost their magic touch nor their competitive edge.

They all played with passion and drive and would not take any slacking from any of the other players, with Williams often giving me a rollicking for straying out of position.

Incidentally I was supposed to play centre half, but preferring a more forward role, I spent most of the match in the opposition’s final third.

Thankfully with Williams, who had two spells at Charlton and one at Crystal Palace, pretty much doing the job of the entire defence, I was not really needed.

Playing at The Valley, a beautiful 27,000 seater stadium of Premiership standards, was a memorable occasion for all involved, including myself.

Although the ground was by no means full, families and friends of those playing sat watching in the stands and made sure there was plenty of noise with lots of cheering and jeering.

The Football Aid experience aimed to simulate that of a real match with players getting to use the changing rooms and walk out through the tunnel onto the pitch.

Having endured a long and hard Championship season, the pitch was not the smooth and crisp surface I was expecting.

Instead I found myself playing on a surface which more resembled a mudbath used by Sunday league teams, made worse by the rain in the second half.

But despite this, the game itself was a goal fest and finished 6-2 to the home side.

Sadly I was unable to get on the scoresheet, although I came desperately close when I missed a sitter in the final minutes.

I had managed to get inside the six yard box and was presented with what seemed like a simple tap in, but my connection with the ball was poor and I scuffed my shot wide much to the amusement of the baiting crowd.

My chance for glory was there for the taking, only for me to spurn it – something I shall rue for the rest of my life.

Watching in the stands was News Shopper sports editor Paul Green, who was happy to give his professional opinion on my display.

He said: “David took a very open minded approach to his central defensive role in the sense he didn’t really do any defending whatsoever, so I don’t think Paddy McCarthy or Mark Hudson have too much to worry about if Alan Pardew was watching.

“There was a great opportunity which he missed at the end as well, but I shouldn’t be too hard on him as I’ve seen worse misses here over the years.”

For your chance to live the dream of playing in the stadium of your favourite team, visit footballaid.com