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The day began with a deafening applause for current Celtic and Former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart who began his footballing career on the Welsh border with Shrewsbury Town and he has often been an ever-present face since despite leaving the club.

Around 1,000 autographs and pictures later, Hart headed up to his families box as the players walked out of the tunnel to a rapture of whistles and clapping. Both sides were blessed with talent and some very likeable characters on and off the pitch including Stephen Hunt who spent his afternoon aiming to take out players in a charity event.

The event was a chance to say goodbye to both sets of fans for mhis former clubs, something which felt like ufihshed business for many. He said “ It was a really friendly atmosphere and saw two clubs come together. I spent most of my career at the two clubs and from a really selfish point of view, it was so nice to have a bit of a curtain call for my own career.”

“I never got the chance at either club to do that. My last season at Shrewsbury was in Covid and at Wolves it all happened so quickly.

“So from a selfish point of view, to be able to put this on and give my thanks to everyone that turned up, that was very special and I can’t thank them enough.

However, amongst all of the players on display there were two standout performers, both former Premier League wingers too. Matt Jarvis who earned himself a cap for England, showcased that he has still got it and looked extremely sharp throughout with some neat touches and an excellently controlled finish into the bottom corner to make it 2-0 to wolves inside 25 minutes. Then during the second half, Jarvis won a free kick and took it upon himself to stand over it also. Continuing his impressive performance, the former West Ham winger buried the ball into the top left corner of the goal, an exceptional performance capped off by an unbelievable finish.

Marc Pugh who had only recently retired from football was the other standout performer, this time for the Shrews. Another Premier League player to have scored a brace on the day with one also being an excellent free-kick, Pugh with his very best Matt Jarvis impersonation. Pugh however, remained on the bench for the whole first half and was introduced for the final 30 minutes, and what an impact he went on to make. With the final score being 4-3 to Shrewsbury despite going in at half time with a two-goal deficit to overturn.

The game was played at an exceptional pace despite the majority of the players having lost a yard or two and having put on a pound or two also.

With over 3,500 people in attendance, the pot of cash that goes towards both nominated charities will be extremely healthy and will massively help both groups in their push to raise as much money as possible.

The Charities mentioned are two of which are very important to Dave Edwards, having already contribued a lot to the organisations, this match was another opportunity in which to raise as much money as possible.

“The Little Rascals Foundation helps children with disabilities and this money will hopefully be enough to build a sensory room on their site. That was the main driver. Unfortunately we had to move sites after our lease ran out and we had a sensory room that that was used so much. The new site hasn’t got that.

“The cost is probably £15,000 and hopefully this will make a big dent in that. It makes it all worthwhile.”

The event was all in all a very big success and the smooth running of the event was all thanks to Dave Edwards. An exceptional professional on the pitch and an exemplary hman being off of it.