The stars align as Poppies get ready to celebrate their 150th anniversary with Legends Match

Two teams, managed by Mark Cooper and the club’s record appearance holder Roger Ashby, full of Poppies heroes of the past will face off against each other in front of what is expected to be a bumper crowd.

The event will take place just 24 hours after the current Poppies squad take on Chester in their last home game of the Vanarama National League North campaign where they will try to move a step closer to securing their Step 2 status for another season.

And then it will be the turn of the legends to take to the pitch while more heroes of yesteryear will be watching on from the stands.

Former Poppies boss Ron Atkinson will be assisting Ashby while the likes of Brett Solkhon, Craig Norman, Wayne Diuk, and Jean-Paul Marna will be among those returning to help the club celebrate their milestone.

The players making up the two squads boast no fewer than 5,363 appearances for Kettering between them.

Penalty-taking king Norman was a legendary figure for the Poppies back in the late 1990s and early 2000s and scored in two of the more famous games in modern history - the 3-2 defeat to Kingstonian in the FA Trophy final at Wembley in 2000 and then in the dramatic 2-1 final-day win at Tiverton Town in 2002 when Kettering snatched the title away from Tamworth.

But, for Norman, the club means so much more than the 370 appearances he made and 78 goals he scored.

And, despite a guaranteed sore body afterwards, he’s looking forward to featuring in front of the Kettering fans again and, hopefully, getting the chance to show he’s still got it when it comes to scoring from 12 yards.

He said: “I’ve brought a new pair of boots!

“It will be good. It will be nice to see a few old faces.

“There’s times I look back and it only feels like yesterday that I was playing but the reality is it’s 20 years so the old body will be feeling it!

“If I’m able to run up and take a penalty then I’ll be up for it!

“The club was and is a massive part of my life. I came up from London and it became a massive part of my life.

“I am still living around here now with my wife and my lad. I never moved away so that tells you everything.

“I just have great memories. In the big games, we always seemed to get a penalty for some reason.

“The run to Wembley where we had some long away trips was incredible and it was topped off by an incredible day. There were so many fans there, it was great for the whole town.

“And Tiverton was amazing because we went down there more in hope than expectation because we were relying on other results.

“We knew we had to do a job and when we won it, it was an unreal feeling really because we didn’t expect the day to end like that.

“And then on the coach journey on the way back, we left Martin Matthews at the services and didn’t realise for an hour or so and we ended up having to go back and get him! Just brilliant memories.”

Tickets for Sunday’s Legends Match can be purchased in advance in person from the social club at Latimer Park or from Vince’s Barbers in Hawthorn Road, Kettering.

They can also be purchased online by visiting shop.ketteringtownfc.com/collections/my-url-slug

The tickets are priced at £10 for adults and concessions and £2 for under-16s. A special commemorative matchday programme will also be available for £4.

Poppies Legends Match Squads

Team Cooper

Player-manager: Mark Cooper.

Physio: Jimmy Davidson.

Kitmen: Ross Patrick and Dan Willis.

Players: Lee Harper (139 apps, 51 clean sheets), Chris Taylor (31 apps, 8 clean sheets), Luke Graham (185 apps, 8 goals), John Dempster (186 apps, 22 goals), Exodus Geohaghon (79 apps, 1 goal), Guy Branston (60 apps, 0 goals), Tommy Jaszczun (69 apps, 1 goal), Brett Solkhon (598 apps, 118 goals), Patrick Noubissie (123 apps, 1 goal), James Jepson (61 apps, 5 goals), Jon Brady (41 apps, 6 goals), Andre Boucaud (166 apps, 5 goals), Tarkan Mustafa (74 apps, 10 goals), Chris Beardsley (66 apps, 16 goals), Gareth Seddon (59 apps, 21 goals), Chris Difante (81 apps, 17 goals), Craig Westcarr (143 apps, 37 goals), Rene Howe (168 apps, 63 goals), Jean-Paul Marna (246 apps, 76 goals).

Team Ashby

Manager: Roger Ashby (663)

Assistant-manager: Ron Atkinson.

Goalkeeping coach: James Alger.

Physio: Rachel Birks.

Kitmen: Malc and Aaron Lewer

Players: Kevin Shoemake (157 apps, 54 clean sheets), Paul White (159 apps. 52 clean sheets), Craig Norman (370 apps, 78 goals), Wayne Diuk (317 apps, 9 goals), Craig McIlwain (152 apps, 4 goals), James Brighton (128 apps, 14 goals), Steve Kinniburgh (114 apps, 6 goals), Henry Eze (63 apps, 7 goals), Colin Vowden (204 apps, 13 goals), Marcus Kelly (163 apps, 16 goals), Lindon Meikle (132 apps, 16 goals), Gary Stohrer (219 apps, 8 goals), Michael Richens (131 apps, 9 goals), Michael Boyle-Chong (36 apps, 0 goals), Ollie Burgess (93 apps, 25 goals), Lawrie Dudfield (16 apps, 0 goals), Aaron O’Connor (138 apps, 69 goals), Dale Watkins (142 apps, 44 goals), Chris Pearson (54 apps, 21 goals).