Liverpool have announced that there will be a charity match hosted at Anfield later this month as the club seeks to raise funds for the club's official charity. The match is being viewed as a goodbye to Steven Gerrard, as the captain enters the final few weeks of his Liverpool career before moving to MLS side LA Galaxy in the summer. Gerrard will captain one of the all star sides, with close friend and former team-mate Jamie Carragher captaining the other.
Money raised will go towards funding local community projects within Liverpool, as well as supporting Alder Hey hospital, Claire House and Cash For Kids amongst other schemes. Liverpool are well known for looking to help charitable causes through football, having put 'seeing is believing' on their shirts at times over the past few seasons, in aid of the visually impaired.
The game is during an international break, meaning that Reds players not playing for their countries will take some part. As will some of the academy players, with staff members also likely to make cameo appearances.
The real draw to the event are some of the other current and ex players, as the best players that Gerrard has played against and with line up against one another. These names include Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina, Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Dirk Kuyt, John Terry and Didier Drogba. Luis Suárez, who left for Barcelona in the summer, is also expected to make an appearance as he returns to Anfield. Managers and the final line-ups will be announced in the coming weeks, with Rafa Benitez rumoured to be one of the potential coaches.