Battle of the Reds as former Liverpool, Man Utd players face off at National Stadium in November
SINGAPORE — Fans of fierce rivals Manchester United and Liverpool are in for a treat in November, as the Battle of the Reds masters football tournament returns to Singapore after a two-year absence.
The event, which features former players of the two well-supported English clubs as well as the Singapore national team, will see three teams – Liverpool Reds, Manchester Reds and Singapore Reds – in three round-robin, 40-minute matches at the National Stadium on 16 November.
This is first time since 2015 that the Battle of the Reds tournament in Singapore will feature former Liverpool and Man United players. When the event was last held in Singapore in 2017, it featured former Liverpool and Arsenal footballers.
Newcomers to the tournament
This time around, the former Reds stars who will be representing the Merseyside club are Emile Heskey, Jerzy Dudek, Jari Litmanan, John Arne Riise, Dietmar Hamann, Danny Murphy and debutant Jason McAteer.
McAteer, who played for Liverpool from 1995 to 1999, said in a media release by event organiser Masters Football Asia on Thursday (22 August), “It’ll be my first time playing at the Singapore National Stadium representing the Liverpool Reds. Singapore is an amazing place with fantastic fans and I am looking forward to meet them all.”
The Manchester Reds, on the other hand, will feature four debutants: Ben Thornley, Paul Rachukah, Eric Djemba Djemba and Wes Brown. The quartet will join Teddy Sheringham, Ronny Johnsen, Mikael Silvestre, Clayton Blackmore and Keith Gillespie.
Brown, who was in Singapore for July’s International Champions Cup, said, “I’ve seen the National Stadium, and it looks like a great place to play. The fans in Singapore really love football so we want to put up a good match for them.”
The Singapore Reds will be fielding local football favourites such as Fandi Ahmad, Aleksandar Duric, Malek Awab, Noh Alam Shah, Indra Sahdan Daud, Lionel Lewis and Nazri Nasir. The team had also featured in the 2017 tournament.
Ticket details, meet-and-greet opportunities
Tickets will go on sale on Friday at Sports Hub Tix, and prices start from $20 for the concession to $250 for the VIP category.
In addition, form now until 22 September, 500 ticket holders can stand a chance to receive an invite to meet their football heroes at a private meet-and-greet session on 22 September.
They simply have to comment on who their favourite Liverpool, Manchester or Singapore Red is on Masters Football Asia’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Gates open at 5.30pm and kick-off for the first match at 7pm. For more information, please visit www.battleofthereds.com.
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