UK CUP STARS CHARITY MATCH IN ITALY RAISES £8000 FOR LOWE SYNDROME

PRESS RELEASE November 2004 The Lowe Syndrome charity are thrilled to have been supported by the Italian UK Cup Stars Charity football match. Celebrity team player Tony Hadley presented a cheque to the Lowe Syndrome Trust for £7600 which will enable the charity to advertise another £50,000 grant for medical research into the children's incurable disease called Lowe Syndrome. The disease affects the brain, eyes, kidneys, bones and muscles - sadly life expectancy is short due to the complications of the condition. Tony is a long-standing supporter and patron of the Lowe charity and team captain Rod Stewart's girlfriend Penny Lancaster, is also a Patron. Penny recently performed in the musical "Tonight's the Night", when she kindly met with ten year old Oscar Thomas who has Lowe Syndrome.

THE CHARITY MATCH The UK CUP Stars played in May 2004 in Florence, Italy where they were invited by the Nazionale Italiana Cantanti to play their Italian team in the Artemio Franchi Stadium. The Italiana Nazionale Cantanti are an established organisation that play one big live televised event a year in Italy called “The Partita del Cuore”, which translates as “The match of the Heart”. The Stadium was filled with 45.000 people and another 8 million people watched the match live on TV via Rai Uno. After 90 thrilling minutes the score was 6-6 and penalties were taken. The final score was an incredible 10-10 with the UK CUP Stars winning on away goals!.

The UK CUP Stars team in Italy consisted of the following stars from the music industry: Rod Stewart, Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), Neutrino (So Solid Crew), Tony Hadley and Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet), Jason Orange (Take That), Paul Young, Mick Hucknall, Rick Wakeman (Yes), Chris Evans (radio DJ) and Ritchie Neville, Sean Conlon and Scott Robinson (Five). The football professionals were Paul Gascoigne (Newcatle Utd, England), Ian Rush (Liverpool FC, Wales) and Paolo DiCanio (Lazio Roma, Italy) who played their magic skills on the field for the UK CUP Stars. Team managers were Claudio Ranieri (then Chelsea FC manager) and Joe Jordan (Manchester Utd, Scotland). The Italiana Nazionale Cantanti team played among others: Gianni Morandi, Marco Morandi, Zucchero and Eros Ramazzotti. The ‘Match of the Heart’ raised € 300.000 for charity, of which £8000 was donated to the UK Lowe Syndrome Charity.

UK CUP STARS The UK CUP Stars originate from The Music Industry Soccer 6 and are a UK associated football squad consisting of various celebrities from the music industry in Europe together with several ex professionals who all just love to play football! The UK CUP Stars have many other varied celebrities attached to their squad and Cup Promotions have the support of the Rt Hon Richard Caborn, Minister for Sport and Tourism of Britain.

In 2005 the UK CUP Stars have been invited to play matches all over the world against teams consisting of local celebrities. After the success in Italy, the UK CUP Stars are in talks with the NIC for a re-match in Milan in May 2005. Also invitations have been coming in from Japan, Mauritius, Cuba, Ukraine, Northern Ireland and China for matches throughout 2005. The UK CUP STARS have quickly become a force to reckon with!

THE UK CUP history In 1995 Mark Abery of Cup Promotions embarked on a plan to bring together those stars who simply loved to play football. A unique 6-a-side tournament called ‘The Music Industry Soccer6’ was born, which would celebrate the coming together of Britain’s two most popular cultures, as well as proving just how good many of these stars actually were! In a small area of East London, celebrities including Jarvis Cocker (Pulp), Damon Albarn (Blur), JK (Jamiroquai) and the starting actor Jude Law all laced up their boots for the inaugural event, which was a huge success.

In 1996 ‘Soccer6’ saw the great “Brit Pop” rivals, Oasis and Blur, at the height of their UK chart domination. The band Pulp also returned with a guest player who would grace ‘Soccer6’ for many years to come, Robbie Williams. Robbie played alongside Liam Gallagher for the Oasis team that day, to prove that football, and a good cause, can unite even the most different of people.

Since then, Rod Stewart, Iron Maiden, Mick Hucknall, Spandau Ballet, ex-Take That Jason Orange and Mark Owen, Blue, Ant and Dec, Lennox Lewis, Blazin’Squad, Bryan Robson, Chris Evans, Def Leppard, David Baddiel, Tony Hadley, Dermot O’ Leary, Eamonn Holmes, George Best, Westlife, The Darkness and many, many more stars have also taken part over the years.