The game is being played in appreciation of Mick Ennis, a teacher at Blessed Trinity (formerly St. Theodore's). He's taught at the school for over 40 years but is currently receiving treatment for cancer. He's also receiving regular care from Pendleside Hospice.
I think anyone who has played sport, certainly football or cricket, locally over the years will know Mick. I certainly do and played cricket against him on a number of occasions during the 1970s and 1980s.
His enthusiasm for sport has certainly been of great help to many of his pupils over the years and one of those pupils, Paul Perry, told me what a top bloke and fantastic football manager he is. Paul was a member of the team that reached the Under-16s English Schools National Final in 1994 and recalled Mick's team talk being the best he'd ever heard ahead of a win against Birmingham.
We at Clarets Mad benefited from the support of the Vintage Clarets in May this year when they played us in a match to raise money for MacMillan in memory of our former message board poster Tony Nuttall (aka NUTZ) and they will certainly provide good opposition.
The St. Ted's team will also include some former Football League players, all of them having benefited from Mick's coaching at school. They include former Claret John Mullin and his brother Paul and Chris Casper who started his career with Manchester United.
Another former pupil was England cricketer James Anderson and he's donated a signed shirt for auction and current Claret Danny Ings has signed and donated a pair of his boots.
The game will be played at Burnley Belvedere, Holden Road, Reedley on Sunday 23rd November with a 1:30 p.m. kick off.
Donations for Pendleside Hospice have, at the time of writing, reached over £1,200. You can donate directly at justgiving.com/Mick-Ennis
Clarets Mad hope the day proves to be very successful and wish Mick the very best in his fight against cancer.