‘It couldn’t have gone any better’ – Steve Ramsey’s testimonial raises over £10,500 for Portsmouth charity

A crowd of around 560 watched a Pompey Charity XI come from 7-2 down to win 8-7 at AFC Portchester yesterday.

All proceeds from the game are going to Enable Ability, a charity that continues to help Ramsey’s six-year-old son Gerard.

Ex-pros Brett Pitman, Guy Butters, Sean Davis, Lee Bradbury, Danny Hollands and Paul Robinson were all part of the Pompey XI.

Current Baffins Milton Rovers boss Danny Thompson and his newly-appointed reserve team manager Steve Ledger also played, with Hawks’ Charlie Searle in goal.

The Ramsey XI fielded basically two different teams in each half.

The first comprised players he had played alongside during a career taking in Hawks, Gosport Borough and Portchester.

SEE MORE: Picture gallery – Steve Ramsey testimonial

Rory Williams and Dan Wooden - still regulars in the Southern League for Gosport - Lee Molyneaux, Cameron Scott and Craig Hardy all featured. Wooden hit a first-half hat-trick while Williams also netted.

Ramsey also played part of the game, as did Joe Noakes, the current Moneyfields assistant manager who helped organise the testimonial.

For the second half, the Ramsey XI included friends who might not have played to such a high level as those in the first half.

Pitman scored four times in the second half, after Hollands had grabbed both first-half goals for the Blues. Pitman grabbed the winning goal deep into injury time after earlier bagging an 11-minute hat-trick.

Prior to the game, the teams observed two minutes of silence as a mark of respect following the passing of the Queen, followed by singing the national anthem.

Ramsey told The News: ‘It was a brilliant day, the sun was out, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I couldn’t believe how many people turned up - the day couldn’t have gone any better.’

Back in June, Ramsey helped save Gerard’s life by administering CPR after finding the youngster unresponsive at home.

Gerard has been using the facilities at Enable Ability since January of this year.

Ramsey, meanwhile, plans to talk to AFC Portchester boss Dave Carter in the coming weeks regarding his playing future.

Yesterday’s game was his first run-out for five months, and he is keen to have a seventh season with the Royals if at all possible.