Football fans lived the dream when they played alongside Boro favourites on the Riverside Stadium pitch to help raise more than £9,000 for Finlay Cooper Fund.
The Riverside played host to back-to-back charity games in aid of the fund run by former Middlesbrough star Colin Cooper and his wife Julie in memory of the two-year-old son they lost in a tragic choking accident 10 years ago.
Fans of Middlesbrough and Millwall, another of Boro coach Cooper’s former clubs, first took part in an annual game in aid of the charity.
 Ex-Boro star Dean Windass scored both Boro goals in a 2-2 draw that saw Cooper turn out for Millwall, having played in the red and white against the Lions last year.
Following a quick turn-around in the dressing rooms, Boro fans then arrived for a second charity game, having bid up to £400 each to play alongside former Riverside heroes George Boateng, Gaizka Mendieta, Alan Moore and Curtis Fleming.
A team managed by Cooper beat Tony Mowbray’s line-up 7-2 in a match played in a wonderful spirit. Darren McCabe and Robbie Peacock both scored twice for Team Cooper, with Boateng also on the score sheet with fans David Gibson and Nick Rodgers. Andrew Marsay scored both goals for Mowbray’s team.
Colin Cooper said: “Julie and I have been touched by the help we’ve received from so many people in raising more than £150,000 so far,” said Colin. “This very special day not only gave the funds another great boost but will live long in the memory.
“Hopefully, we gave all who took part a wonderful taste of life as a professional footballer in return for their generosity.”
Organisers gave the charity players the nearest possible experience to being a professional player. They changed in the Riverside dressing rooms, had pre-match teamtalks from Mowbray or Cooper and ran on to the pitch to Boro’s Power Game theme tune.
Teams and goalscorers were announced over the stadium PA system and electronic scoreboards and there were official team sheets. Players also got to keep the kit they wore as a memento of the day.
The line-ups for the second match were:
TEAM COOPER
1 TOMMY HUNTER
2 DANIEL TAYLOR
3 MARTIN ROBSON
4 STEPHEN SMITH
5 MARC STEWARD
6 MICHAEL HAWKINS
7 DAVID GIBSON
8 GEORGE BOATENG
9 STEPHEN GIBSON
10 ROB PEACOCK
11 JAMIE ROBERTSON
12 DAN ASHENDEN
14 JONATHAN KAMARA
15 CURTIS FLEMING
16 JACOB RODGERS
17 NICK RODGERS
18 CHRIS HARPER
19 DARREN MCCABE
20 ANTHONY VICKERS
42 JONNY FLEMING
86 DAISY COOPER
TEAM MOWBRAY
1 JACK GILL
2 MARK COOPER
3 JAMES BAKER
4 RICARDO SAVORITI
5 CHRIS NEAL
6 DAVE PARRY
7 JOHN TODD
8 ANDREW HARROW
9 ANDREW MARSAY
10 JOHN HENDRIE
11 SYMON HALE
12 PAUL BAKER
14 JAMES MCLEARY
15 VINNY WOODROW
16 DAVE CLARK
17 TOM CONNOLLY
18 PAUL BATES
19 IAN MONKHOUSE
20 GAIZKA MENDIETA   
All pictures were gratefully provided by Aspire Photo Grafix
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