'I'm blown away': Emotional Portsmouth legend Alan Knight thanks supporters after memorable charity event

An impressive crowd of 6,012 turned out for the Blues legend’s charity football match this afternoon - and were treated to a 16-goal thriller.

A Pompey Legends side fought back from 8-2 down with seven minutes of normal time remaining to claim an 8-8 draw in a dramatic finale, with Brett Pitman scoring four goals in stoppage-time.

It denied John Mousinho a well-deserved victory, with his Celebrity XI dominating the match and producing stunning goals from Ashley Harris and Jon Harley, in particular.

More importantly, all profits from the game will now be split between PCaSO, a local organisation raising money for equipment at QA Hospital, plus Prostate Cancer UK and the Barry Kilby Prostate Cancer Appeal.

Knight, who has prostate cancer, received a football cap to commemorate his 801 Pompey appearances and the Freedom of the City during a half-time presentation.

And he was touched by the support shown by so many.

He told The News: ‘It has been a fantastic success, what a great turnout from the Pompey family. I am blown away by that.

‘It has been a great, great day and, I must admit, I did have a tear in my eye at half-time. That was a really nice touch from the club and Lord Mayor with the presentation.

‘The weather tried its hardest to mess it up for a little while, but it was brilliant - and fantastic to see so many former team-mates from various decades come out as well.

‘Special thanks to Tony Male, Malcolm Drew, Ashleigh Emberson and the football club for allowing this to happen, this has been a special day.

‘I wanted to raise awareness about prostate cancer. I know it’s a cliche, but if this encourages one person to take a test and it manages to catch cancer early enough, then it’s a big win for everyone.’

The likes of Gareth Evans, Lee Brown, Brett Pitman, Kyle Bennett, Danny Holland, Svetoslav Todorov, Michael Doyle, Martin Kuhl, David Norris and Matt Tubbs were all on display in the match.

In addition, Mousinho and first-team coaching staff Harley and Zesh Rehman also pulled on their boots and were joined by The News’ Jordan Cross, BBC Radio Solent’s Andy Moon, Match of the Day’s Chris Wise and talkSPORT’s Alex Crook.

There was also a surprise appearance of Matt Le Tissier, who inevitably took stick, yet it was good natured and his involvement was appreciated by Knight and many supporters.

Meanwhile, watching from the stands were many of Knight’s former team-mates including Alan Biley, Colin Sullivan, Andy Awford, Noel Blake, Kit Symons, Neil Webb, Guy Whittingham and Paul Walsh - in addition to Harry Redknapp.

And Mousinho was delighted to step out of retirement to feature, even if his side conceded five goals during 10 minutes of time added-on, including a highly dubious penalty.

Mousinho added: ‘It was brilliant, an amazing day. I’ve been really looking forward to getting the boots back on and getting out at Fratton, it has been a few years since last playing here.

‘At 70 minutes, my body started to seize up, Rob Atkinson style against Derby, but I was still needed at the back so I thought I’d get to 90 minutes and that would be fine. Then there was 10 minutes more!

‘Even though it was a charity game, I still had those competitive juices flowing - and I am going to struggle to walk tomorrow.’

Pitman scored five times for the Pompey Legends, with Evans, Brown and Danny Hollands also on the scoresheet.

For the Celebrity XI, Tubbs, Harris and Harley each scored twice, while Bennett and Crook contributed to the scoreline too.

Pompey Legends: Darryl Flahavan, Dave Waterman, Guy Butters, Lee Brown, Danny Hollands, Rowan Vine, Michael Doyle, Brett Pitman, Gareth Evans, Lee Bradbury, Svetoslav Todorov. Subs: Benedict Akwuegbu, Craig Anstey, Shaun Gale, Tony Joseph Male, Dillon North, Charlie Searle.

Alan Knight XI: Chris Tardif, Martin Kuhl, John Mousinho, Zesh Rehman, Jon Harley, David Norris, Ashley Harris, Harry Kavanagh, Kyle Bennett, Mark Kelly, Matt Tubbs. Subs: Alex Crook, Jordan Cross, Simon James, Dave Joyce, Matt Le Tissier, Andy Moon, Richard Pearce, Paul Playford, Chris Wise.

Attendance: 6,012

Your Next Pompey Read: 'It was always difficult': Pompey boss' Alexander Milosevic admission after ill-fated stay