Bob Wilson is 50th Birthday Surprise Guest
13/01/12 10:58 Filed in: 2012 | Fundraising
Little did St Agnes AFC first team manager Martyn Kimmins know what was in store for him on Friday 13th January as he set off out for an ordinary night out for dinner with his wife Mandy and family!
On arriving at the historic and quirky Carn Brea Castle Martyn was stunned to find more than 40 of his closest friends and local footballing players waiting to surprise him and (before he had chance to find his feet) he was further shocked to see his football hero and well known football legend ex-Arsenal and Scotland keeper Bob Wilson walking into the venue to wish him a happy 50th birthday!
Bob had been invited to attend the evening by Mandy as a 50th birthday present for Martyn and he certainly made the evening very memorable as he joined the guests in dining on a Jordanian Mezze, climbed to the roof to share the spectacular view, and then spent time mixing and mingling with Martyn and his friends before presenting an animated and engaging talk on 50 years of football history. Whilst talking about football over the last 50 years he produced a series of props from his '50 footballing years' bag including his own first leather football boots, which guests could compare to a pair of Theirry Henry's, his first pair of cotton goal keeping gloves with David Seaman's more modern ones and a series of footballs including an old leather one next to the light modern ones. Goalkeeping tops across the years included his own yellow top worn when he represented England School's FA, his yellow jersey worn when he represented Scotland and his Arsenal No 1 jersey that he wore when he helped Arsenal win the double League and FA Cup in 1971 and one of David Seaman's.
Following an opportunity for questions Bob finished his talk by describing a little about the Willow Foundation a charity he set up with his wife Megs in memory of their daughter Anna who sadly passed away following a brave battle with cancer. Bob explained that the charity was the only one aimed at seriously ill young adults aged 16-40 years and provided special days for them. Bob was delighted to hear that St Agnes AFC had raised £650 over Christmas for the Willow Foundation by hosting the Tom Benney Testimonial Match and spent time with Tom during the evening discussing his early retirement from football owing to a heart complaint. Guests had been asked to give donations in lieu of presents which brought the total for the Willow Foundation to £1000. This amount has been match funded by Barclays Bank to bring the total for the Willow Foundation to £2000.
At the end of what was quite simply an unforgettable evening an elated Martyn commented, "What a fantastic evening, I had no idea what was planned! Bob Wilson was a fantastic surprise and a brilliant guest and present!"
