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Tottenham Hotspur have announced on the club website that a testimonial match for this website's namesake, legendary former club captain Ledley King, will be held at White Hart Lane on May 12 2014.
King, who retired during the 2012 close-season after a long-term knee injury had started to hamper his ability to compete regularly in League matches, will lead a Guest XI against the current first team to celebrate his 13 years with Spurs. As club chairman Daniel Levy puts it:
"Ledley is one of the greatest players to wear the colours of this Club and we look forward to recognising his great service and loyalty with this game. It will be a memorable evening for everyone."
For obvious reasons, the Tottenham hierarchy took some flak for failing to have a testimonial tie organised to give King a proper send-off when he first stepped back from the Tottenham squad. In fairness to the board, however, we have no idea why exactly it is that it's taken two years to get this date in the diary: it could be, for example, that King's own commitments in his role as Club Ambassador has complicated attempts to get it organised. All we do know is that the match will surely be an emotional goodbye to Tottenham's greatest homegrown talent; one who gave his all every week for a club he loved despite playing through immense physical pain, and whose name became synonymous with the values of leadership, dignity and affinity with the fans. Anyone who can attend is strongly advised to seek tickets through the club website while they're available.
