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Article by 5D music and theatre writer, Maria Robertson
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Friday 1st October was a fundraising evening for ZesT Football Club at the very fitting location of Pittodrie Football Stadium. This local charity was set up earlier this year by recovering addict Zander Thornton to help under privileged children to be able to play football. They run free football coaching sessions and collect outgrown football kit from those more fortunate to hand down to those who cannot afford the “proper gear”. We all know children’s feet grow quickly and so often football boots are still in very good condition by the time they have outgrown their original owner, so it makes perfect sense to pass them onto someone else to make use of them. Poor Zander had mislaid his welcoming speech but introduced us to his team of coaches – and told us about his special friend, a dog called Keebz.
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The evening was run in conjunction with Ace Competitions ( https://www.acecompetitions.co.uk/). Owners Lisa and Jodi were the compères for the evening. They ran the games throughout the evening, there was a Heads or Tails, a raffle (what a lot of prizes!) and a few auction items. Obviously the focus was on raising money for the charity, although the winner of Heads or Tails walked away with £800! Ace Competitions always go live on a Friday nightwith their competition live draws and they did this during the event with the draws shown on the tv screens around the room. Everyone there was also given a discount code to buy tickets for a draw later in the evening to win £10,000.
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At 9pm the food was served, with a choice of stovies or macaroni cheese – just what you want after a couple of hours of beer! There was a nice choice of condiments, although the oatcakes ran out just as I got my stovies so I opted for extra beetroot. Waiting staff were efficient and inobtrusive.
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Finally the DJ started up with his flashy lights and cheesy tunes. What a glorious feeling to get up and dance with friends rather than just around the kitchen. After 18 months of pandemic it seemed an amazingly freeing experience to dress up, and get up and dance. There was a mixture of Abba, the Killers, Cotton Eye Joe and dances included the slosh and macarena! In between dancing there were fabulous people watching opportunities – one lady is obviously used to working from home now as she had brought her slippers to dance in!
A fun night for a great cause and a taste of normal life – getting home late and struggling to get the key in the lock has never felt quite so splendid! Here’s to many more…
Further information: https://www.facebook.com/ZesTFootballCoach/
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Maria Robertson is the newly anointed Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.
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