I haven’t played football since I was 30 years old. I can remember that night vividly. Nothing went wrong, I played 7-a-side for an hour and lived to tell the tale. I didn’t retire off the back of any incident in particular but it was the last time I played. I retired because on my 30^th birthday, several months prior, I had, while apocalyptically drunk, dislocated my left kneecap and, I think, slightly tore my meniscus.

I made my return to football a few months after that injury, but I was a wreck. My nerves were shot, I couldn’t think straight, I saw friends of mine wince at me and tell me to calm down because they thought I was being too energetic and cavalier.

I finished the game, I packed up my stuff, I went home, probably should have put an ice pack on my knee and that was it. I have not played football since. I’m now 40. Ten years into my early retirement.

I developed what you could describe as a sports version of post traumatic stress disorder. If I saw a bad knee injury in a match I would break into a cold sweat. If I saw someone landing funny or getting their studs caught in the turf, I would immediately think their season was over and break into a cold sweat. If I thought about anything to do with knee injuries, I would break into a cold sweat. You get the idea.

It would have to take an extraordinary cause to make me get the boots out of storage, wouldn’t it?

I was offered the chance to play for Team Charli against a team of Dundalk legends in aid of Feileacain and for a couple of reasons I couldn’t say no. The main reason is to honour my son William, whose name will be on my jersey on the day.

I can tell you first hand what an incredible job Feileacain do. They did so much for my wife and I and so many other couples like us. In the worst circumstances they helped us immensely and there is no charity that deserves our help more than them. If you know what they do, you know how important they are and how wonderful what they do is.

Another reason to play is because I was asked by Dean Arrowsmith, who some of you will know. I’ve never met Dean in person but through a shared love of Dundalk FC and sharing our experiences with grief I would consider him a great friend and when a great friend asks you to help out, you help out. Even if you haven’t run further than 10 yards in 10 years.

The last reason is to get to play against bona fide Dundalk FC legends. Getting the chance to be embarrassed by names like Massey, Mulvenna, Quigley, McKevitt, Gartland and more doesn’t come around too often. And it will be embarrassing, there is no doubt about that. For me anyway, I can’t speak for anyone else on the team.

I used to speak on the Town End podcast a lot about the community and the football clubs place in it. Sometimes it can be hard to think of ways to develop that connection. This game is the embodiment of the connection that the town has to this football club and the lasting legacy this football club has on our community.

The legends that are appearing all, obviously, experienced what it was like to be adored by our fans and their status as club legends is born from that adoration. They all understand this football club and its place in the town.

Oriel has been a place of escape for so many of us for so many reasons over the years and that will be true of so many of the fathers who will be lining out for Team Charli. No matter what is happening in your life, you can park your troubles on a Friday night and head up the Carrick Road and sing or scream your head off in complete abandon or take comfort in the familiar faces around you.

Those legends that will be lining out for the Dundalk Fc Legends team have all in one way or another helped us through something or helped us forget our troubles even for a fleeting moment. That’s why this football club is important.

For that, I will thank each of them personally and quietly, with dignity and respect, ask them to go easy on me.