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Everton Gala Dinner - Children Cancer Council Fundraiser - Sydney


mk86

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Hey folks,

 

Here's another preview thread of an event I went to while the Blues were in Sydney.

 

The event was a Gala dinner, a fundraiser for Tim Cahill's charity, the Children's Cancer Council. The event was held at Rooty Hill RSL in the function room.

 

Before this began though, the players first made their way in to the Novotel next door for a media conference. Lucky for me, I was with someone who was staying at the hotel so I was able to bypass the barriers and wait inside for them to walk straight past. The players arrived and walked directly in front of a small group of us and greeted us. A few stopped for signatures and a few didn't. My highlight of this was Phil Neville who was more than happy to sign. As he walked up the stairs he turned back, pointed at a shirt, and said "Sign boys." A very good display of leadership and participation with the fans.

 

We then made our way to the function room and sat at our table. I had a good glance around at the setup which was very impressive.

 

At our table was a raffle item. Each table had a fully signed Jabulani ball with a copy of Fifa World Cup on PS3.

 

I went for a walk and had a look at the auction and silent auction items. Of course, all proceeds were donated to the cancer council.

 

Our MC for the night, a big brother presenter, Mikey Robbins took to the stage. Shortly the team made their way in the room and eventually made their way to the stage for some interviews, similar to the ones from the Q&A night.

 

A comedian/magician came to the stage for a short show. Some of you might know him, Matt Hollywood. He performed an impressive act which he called the

.

 

We had a three course meal which was nice, shortly followed a speech from a professor on children's cancer. We then had to watch a very sad video of a young girl who fought cancer a few years ago. Her father then made his way to the stage for a difficult yet touching speech.

 

We then had an auction which was run by Scott Gibbins, aka Mr Sold. This was amazing as items were sold very large amounts of money. I recall a jersey signed by the England squad selling for about $7000. However my highlight was Mikel Arteta. He bidded on a trip for two to Thailand. The amount slowly climbed up to the few thousand mark, and he then started bidding against himself! Mr Sold raised the price $500 at a time. Each time he threw the price at Arteta he simply smiled and nodded, finishing with a price of $4500. A class act, yet again.

 

The auction made way for the comedian of the evening, Bruno Lucia. He was absolutely hilarious. It was good to see the team in stitches from laughing, notably Phil Neville and Arteta.

 

Then came time for some awards and speeches from Presidents, Vice Presidents and Politicians. When this finished it was time to get in amongst the team for more signatures and photographs. I was lucky enough to get a moment with the boss for a great photo. I went from player to player and received signature after signature as they were willing and happy to sign my Everton home jersey.

 

The night soon concluded. Did I forget to mention that I won the raffle for the signed Jabulani ball? Here's my winnings and my now, almost fully, signed Everton shirt.

 

Another great night. It makes me, as well as many other Aussie Everton supporters, feel that much closer to the players. I can say I left the RSL a very happy and satisfied man!

Edited by Ganden
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It seems that they are trying to make this visit as memorable as possible for you guys down under!

 

They sure are. They've been so accommodating to the fans. It's been an amazing week :)

And the games haven't even started yet!

 

 

glad you had a good time met/ganden and i hopeyou enjoy the game on saturday i'll be watching

 

I sure will. Cheers Milky :)

 

Nice to see Mikel appearing (and sounding) to be happy...many suggestions that he's not been.

 

Looks like another good night....this whole thing must be costing you a fortune Ganden!

 

It has been good to see him enjoying himself. Unfortunately I don't have much to compare to because I haven't seen what he's been like in England, but again, he seems to be loving it.

 

It has cost a bit of coin. But when is this going to happen again? Maybe in another 20 years? I don't get to enjoy their company on a week-to-week basis, so it's all VERY worth it :)

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