Stamford Bridge, 6th March 2009

Friday 6th March 2009 was the date for the second annual ‘King of Stamford Bridge’ event held at Chelsea FC to commemorate Peter’s life and to raise funds for the Trust established in his name……

…….and what a great night we had.

Starting with the beautiful voice of opera singer Stuart Pendred walking into the Harris Suite singing ‘Born is the King of Stamford Bridge’, and with many joining in with ‘Osgood, Osgood, Osgood, Osgood’ the evening was always set to be a success.

We were in the capable hands of Sky Sports presenter Matt Lorenzo who hosted the evening in his own inimitable style. His first task was to introduce Martin Swan, our very own Chelsea Vicar, to say a few words and conduct the Grace. Martin is no ordinary vicar so you couldn’t expect the grace to be ordinary either!

The Chairman of the Peter Osgood Trust, Richard King, thanked everyone for supporting the event and talked about how special Peter was, not just as a player but also as a person. He also explained why we had decided to make the Trust a grant giving organisation supporting youth football for the disabled and under privileged, as this was something that was very dear to Peter.

Peter Bonetti also paid tribute as a former team mate, praising Peter’s wonderful skills and ability as a player and giving us an insight into the great lad that was ‘Ossie’. This was followed later in the evening after the auction by an entertaining Question and Answer session hosted by Matt with former ‘Number 9’ players Clive Walker, Tommy Langley, Kerry Dixon and the truly amazing Roy Bentley, who for me was the star of the show - not just for his stories but for his dancing skills on the dance floor later in the evening!!

We were very fortunate to have the company of such great guests, and even more fortunate when it came to the auction, having had donations of some fabulous items including an offer from Alan Bird, the Executive Chef of the exclusive Ivy Restaurant to cook for 10 people in their own home, a visit to Mick Channon’s Racing Stables at West Ilsley, a signed and uniquely presented Didier Drogba boot plus some other unique items of Peter. The auction was conducted by Denis Bundy, a great friend and MC from Southampton, who did his job as well as ever and with wonderful bids from our generous guests a substantial sum was raised for the Peter Osgood Trust.

A silent auction and raffle took place during our delicious three course dinner accompanied by as much excellent wine, beers and soft drinks as we could manage, all included in the ticket price! A wonderful tribute was screened through the many TV screens around the room showing footage of Peter’s remarkable life in football.

This wonderful evening finished with dancing to the excellent Sugar Shack and guests finally departed around 1.00am. It was fantastic to have former team mates, and friends old and new, joining together to support this special event, none of which would have been possible without the generous sponsorship of Speedyhire and I am delighted that Steve Corcoran was able to be with us on the night.

A huge thank you to everyone that attended and I do hope to see you again next year.

With love and best wishes

Lynn Osgood