History

Football Aid was founded in 2000 by Scottish businessman, Craig Paterson, as a means of raising money to find a cure for diabetes; a condition his son was diagnosed with at the age of 12. Although a fan of football himself, he had always been astonished by how much people were prepared to spend on football memorabilia and it made him wonder how much they would pay to live the dream of scoring a goal at Ibrox, Parkhead or Old Trafford. The concept of Football Aid was born: the experience of a lifetime giving football fans the chance to step into the boots of their heroes and play for their club or country at famous grounds.

In May 2001, across the UK, over 1,200 football fans pulled on their favourite shirts, walked through the tunnel and kicked off Football Aid's first season of games. With the support of a host of footballing heroes including Steve Bull, Gary Mabbutt and Sir Bobby Robson, Football Aid's Patron, it was a resounding success and since then Football Aid has grown from strength to strength.

We made our first overseas signing, Barcelona FC in 2003, giving fans of the Catalan giants the chance to play in Nou Camp, widely recognised as one of the world's finest football grounds. A year later, our first International event in association with the SFA and our sponsors BT Scotland took place, allowing fans to pull on the revered dark blue of Scotland and play alongside Scottish legends Danny McGrain (our Vice Patron), Gary McAllister and John McGinlay on the hallowed turf of Hampden.

In 2005, "Celebrity Live the Dream" premiered under the floodlights of Upton Park. A Football Aid ‘All Stars' side tried their luck against a formidable Celebrity team which included the likes of Steve Harris from Iron Maiden, former World Boxing Champion Colin McMillan, international boxer and ABA champion Tony Cesay and West Ham Master, Steve Potts. No surprise then, when the Celebrities romped home to a 9-4 victory...

With further Celebrity matches now available, a new training experience - the Legends Master Class - to tempt the taste buds and the aim of furthering our international approach to include England, Ireland and Wales, the future certainly looks bright for Football Aid.

Recognition

Winner of "Business in the Community" Award category in the Edinburgh Evening News - Lothian Business Excellence Awards 2005.

Finalist in the National Business Awards in the Customer Focus and Corporate Social Responsibility categories 2005.

Craig Paterson, Chairman, was a finalist in the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2005.

Winner of "New Corporate Partner Award 2004" from Diabetes UK.

Craig Paterson was ‘Highly Commended' in 2003 and ‘Shortlisted' in 2004 for The Beacon Prize - in recognition of his outstanding contribution to charitable and social causes.