Courteeners announced as headline act for Legends of Football 2024
Manchester rock band the Courteeners have been announced to headline Legends of Football 2024 as it returns to Grosvenor House to celebrate English football greats Wayne Rooney and Fara Williams.
“We’re honoured to headline Legends of Football 2024”
The indie-rock band Courteeners burst onto the scene winning the Guardian’s Inaugural ‘First British Album Award’, for their debut project ‘St. Jude’ in 2008. In 2023, a reissue of the album reached No 1 in the UK Album Charts, fifteen years after its original release. In the same year, the group also won the ‘Band of the Year’ award at the first ever Nordoff and Robbins Northern Music Awards. The Courteeners have famously performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Heaton Park and both the O2 and Manchester arenas over the years which have cemented their legacy as one of the most popular bands to come out of Manchester. Their hit record ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ has been listed in the Top 100 British songs of all time.
Commenting on headlining Legends of Football 2024 The Courteeners said: “Just like music, football is a sport which brings people together so we’re honoured to headline Legends of Football 2024. As avid football fans, we’re excited to celebrate the iconic careers of Wayne Rooney and Fara Williams whilst supporting the incredible work of Nordoff and Robbins.”
The Courteeners new album Pink Cactus Café will be released on Friday 25 October, followed by an arena tour in November.
Celebrating football royalty – this year’s award winners
This year English football royalty Wayne Rooney and Fara Williams, will be officially unveiled at the prestigious event, joining an esteemed list of recipients including Pelé, David Beckham, Arsène Wenger and most recently, Chelsea FC Women’s manager, Emma Hayes and Arsenal legend, Ian Wright.
Rooney famously played for Manchester United for over 13 years, winning five Premier League titles and countless personal accolades including several FIFA, PFA and Premier League awards.
Williams currently holds the record for the highest number of appearances with the national team, with an astonishing 172 caps over an 18 year career at international level. Fara’s career saw great success across multiple teams with her starting at Everton before eventually moving to Liverpool, winning back to back FA Women’s Super Leagues in 2013 and 2014 then finally becoming one of the biggest signings for Arsenal in 2016 where she picked up another FA Cup.
Rooney, Williams and the Courteeners will be joined by many other recognisable faces at the star-studded event next month to continue supporting Nordoff and Robbins and further the £8.5 million already raised over the years.
Who are the previous winners of the Legends of Football awards?
Previous award recipients are as follows:
- 1996 – No recipient (Jimmy Greaves Guest of Honour)
- 1997 – John Charles CBE
- 1998 – Sir Stanley Matthews CBE (George Best Guest of Honour)
- 1999 – Nat Lofthouse OBE
- 2000 – Brian Clough OBE
- 2001 – Sir Bobby Robson CBE
- 2002 – Sir Bobby Charlton CBE
- 2003 – Tony Adams MBE
- 2004 – Sir Kenny Dalglish CBE
- 2005 – Sir Alex Ferguson CBE
- 2006 – Alan Shearer OBE, DL
- 2007 – Teddy Sheringham MBE
- 2008 – Denis Law CBE
- 2009 – Harry Redknapp
- 2010 – Eric Cantona
- 2011 – José Mourinho
- 2012 – The Premier League “500 Club”
- 2013 – Pelé
- 2014 – Ryan Giggs OBE
- 2015 – David Beckham OBE
- 2016 – The Premier League “100 Club”
- 2017 – Steven Gerrard MBE
- 2018 – Frank Lampard OBE
- 2019 – Arsène Wenger OBE
- 2022 – Ellen White MBE and Gareth Southgate OBE
- 2023 – Emma Hayes OBE and Ian Wright OBE
About Legends of Football
Legends of Football is an annual charity event. And over the last 25 years, the event has raised over £8.5 million for our vital music therapy work.
Legends of Football Chairman, Geoff Shreeves said: “I’m thrilled The Courteeners have accepted our invitation to perform at this year’s Legends of Football event, honouring two legends of the game – Fara Williams and Wayne Rooney. We’re very excited to see them take the stage on an unforgettable night on Monday 7 October.”
Nordoff and Robbins CEO, Sandra Schembri added: “The Courteeners have been a well-loved band for over 15 years, so we’re very excited that they’ll be headlining at Legends of Football 2024 in a couple of weeks. We want to thank the band for supporting Nordoff and Robbins. Every penny raised through Legends of Football will go towards our music therapy services, helping people to communicate and connect through the power of music.”