For most people of a Leeds United persuasion, the notion of kicking off your honeymoon at Old Trafford would seem pretty abhorrent.
For comedian and staunch Leeds fan Maisie Adam, however, her first act of business as a married woman will be making the trip to the Theatre of Dreams, where she will line up alongside the likes of Usain Bolt and Roberto Carlos in the Soccer Aid World XI.
“I’ve wanted to do Soccer Aid for so long,” Adam told Mirror Football. “I’ve grown up watching it and it’s for an amazing cause.
“I’ve never played a game on a full sized pitch, let alone Old Trafford in front of a massive crowd so it’s amazing. It’s a fantastic way to raise money so I was really stoked when they asked me.
“Then I looked at the calendar and realised it was the day after my wedding day. But that’s how much I want to do it!”
Adam, famed for her award-winning stand-up and appearances on shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats and Have I Got News for You?, has been a devoted disciple of Leeds United for as long as she can remember, having been taken on regular pilgrimages to Elland Road by her granddad.
“Any opportunity I could get as a kid, I was out kicking a ball,” she said. “If you asked my younger brother about his childhood, he would say it was mainly spent being shoved in goal by me while I practised my penalties.”
The 29-year-old’s love affair with the beautiful game has extended into her adult life too. Adam, a North Yorkshire native who now lives in Brighton, plays for a local side most weekends and is honoured to become the first female non-professional footballer to feature for the Soccer Aid World XI.
“The fact that I’m potentially going to be playing against Jill Scott - an actual Lioness - is incredible and terrifying in equal measure. It’s a dream come true.
“I think it just speaks to where the game is heading from a wider perspective. It’s becoming more and more inclusive, it’s attracting more and more different types of audiences.
“There’s a huge amount of growth in the women’s game that has come as a result of the Euros. You have the campaign Leah Williamson and Lotte Wubben-moy started, with the government now pledging money to make football accessible for girls.
“Football is the biggest game on the planet. It’s played on pitches, streets, back gardens and it should be something everyone is playing so it’s fantastic that Soccer Aid is going in that direction.”
Representing the Soccer Aid World XI does come with an element of added pressure, with the side bidding to triumph over England for a fifth consecutive year. When Adam steps out at Old Trafford, she will do so under the tutelage of former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, although she is reluctant to be too effusive about her own footballing talents ahead of the big game.
“I’m actually quite fast but that’s because I play on a half-sized pitch,” she admitted. “I don’t want to go in and say ‘I’m fast, put me on the wing’ at Old Trafford when my teammate is Usain Bolt.
“I’m just going to take the approach of ‘I’ll turn up for training and see what the big boss says’.”
While Soccer Aid promises, as ever, to be a highly entertaining spectacle, Adam’s motivation to be involved is also fuelled by the desire to get behind a really important cause. Since its inception in 2006, the initiative has raised over £75 million for UNICEF, with the funds generated helping thousands of children across the globe to get the best possible start in life.
“The best way to make an impact is through a collective effort, so to get so many names together to play one of the most universally loved sports in one of the most internationally recognisable stadiums is just incredible,” Adam said.
“I’m all for a bake sale, I’m all for a sponsored silence but, let's be honest, there’s no better way of fundraising than Soccer Aid."
Having grown up idolising talismanic Leeds striker Mark Viduka - whose name was emblazoned on the back of her first football shirt - Adam is ebullient about the possibility of rippling the back of the net at the home of her beloved club’s greatest foe. And, if that happy moment should arise, the comedian already knows exactly how she’s going to celebrate.
“When I was first thinking about celebrations, my mind obviously went straight to Chloe Kelly at the Euros. I then remembered Luke Ayling’s excellent celebration where he attempts a cartwheel and a roly-poly but is really naff at both of them so it’s all a bit GCSE PE.
“So I now think, if it happens, I might whip off my top, go straight into a Chloe Kelly and then a Luke Ayling.
“Although, I’m also very intent on not becoming the first person to vomit on the pitch live on Soccer Aid. With the wedding celebrations the night before, I might have to sack off the cartwheel. That might bring the prosecco up.”
Tickets for Soccer Aid For UNICEF on Sunday 11th June 2023 at Old Trafford, are on sale here with a family of four able to attend for just £60 — two adults and two children.
