Sunday’s Town Legends charity match at Bury Town raised £6,196.60 split between West Suffolk Hospital’s Forget-Me-Not Dementia campaign and the Blues’ Academy Association.
The Legends beat Forget-Me-Not FC 9-0 in front of a crowd of around 600 — including current Blues defender Tyrone Mings - at Ram Meadow.
Martin Beecroft, one of three fans who had paid to play alongside the Blues heroes of the past, netted four times, Kieron Dyer once, his 13-year-old son and Town academy schoolboy Kie twice, while Alan Lee and legends player-manager Simon Milton also scored one each.
Dave Gooderham, fundraising manager at West Suffolk Hospital Charity who organised the event, was delighted with the way the day went.
"Obviously the weather helped. It was a really good atmosphere both on and off the pitch,” he said. "I would like to thank everyone who came out to support both the Forget-Me-Not campaign and the Ipswich Town Academy. All the money is split 50/50.”
Milton added: "The whole day was excellent. It’s probably been eight months in the planning and when it goes as well as that, everybody wins. Dave worked very, very hard organising it and we were delighted with the turnout on the day.
"Our starting team was Supple in goal, then a back four of John McGreal, John Wark, Russell Osman and Gavin Johnson. We had a midfield four of Jermaine Wright, James Scowcroft, Kieron Dyer and myself, and then we had Alan Lee and Richard Logan up front.
"Because we’d had a few drop out in the week, Kieron’s boy Kie had been playing against Charlton in the morning at the academy and he asked whether he should bring him along.
"And as it was a family day I thought it was a great idea because I thought people would love to see that. So we brought him, another lad called Jack Lankester, who also plays for the U14s, and my son Max on to help us with numbers.
"Kieron’s boy came on just as someone got fouled for a penalty and his first job was to take the penalty in front of 600 people, and as cool as you like with his left foot he just slotted it into the corner! It added to the day because people were buzzing to see these young lads.”
Forget-Me-Not FC
Wark, who was one of only two members of the Legends side to play the full 90 minutes along with Osman, joked: "It’s lovely to win 9-0, I usually get beat 9-0!”
Forget-Me-Not FC: Simon Juby, Mike Dove, Alan Taylor, Jonathan Walters, Peter Abbott, Martyn Abbott, Jonny Cracknell, Dave Gooderham, Bart Williams, Hugh Williams, Lewis Robertson, Lee Ellinor, Ryan Hunt, Iain Bentley, Nathan Krogh, Rob Candler, Jordan Mitchell.
Town Legends: Shane Supple, John McGreal, John Wark, Russell Osman, Gavin Johnson, Jermaine Wright, James Scowcroft, Simon Milton, Kieron Dyer, Alan Lee, Richard Logan, Steve Roberts, Kevin Bowman-Boyles, Martin Beecroft, Kie Dyer, Max Milton, Jack Lankester.