With less than a month to go before the likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Antonio Valencia and Paul Scholes once again line up at the Theatre of Dreams, we are delighted to announce that they will be joined by another huge United name, with midfielder Michael Carrick set to lace up his boots and make his Old Trafford Legends bow.

The former Reds no. 16 enjoyed a glittering United career between 2006-2018, playing key roles in five Premier League titles, one FA Cup, three League Cups, one Europa League and, of course, the dramatic 2008 Champions League final win over Chelsea. As well as playing the full 120 minutes, he was a fine Petr Cech save away from putting the Reds 2-0 up in the first half of that match. Then, in the most nerve-wracking of penalty shootouts, he demonstrated the coolness that personified his playing style, successfully converting his penalty to help fire the Reds to a third European Cup.

The Champions League campaigns that came the season before and after that victorious 07/08 season played host to United’s only competitive matches against our September opponents, as the Reds took on the Bhoys from Glasgow in the group stage phase of the 06/07 and 08/09 Champions League campaigns. Michael featured in three of those four matches and will no doubt be looking forward to taking on Celtic once again next month.

Carrick’s United career came to an end at the culmination of his one and only season as club captain in 17/18, having notched 464 appearances and scored 24 goals for the Reds. Since retiring, he has gone onto to fashion a promising career in management. A stint as first-team coach at United resulted in him taking over the role of caretaker manager of the club for three games between the reigns of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. Carrick then moved on to manage Middlesbrough in October 2022, where he almost achieved promotion to the Premier League in his first season in charge. Having taken over the club whilst in 21^st place, Boro eventually finished fourth to secure a play-off place, but were eventually beaten by Coventry City at the semi-final stage.

He has also continued a close relationship with Manchester United Foundation – the beneficiary of all proceeds from this match – supporting the community football project Street Reds, with the site located in Old Trafford known as Carrick’s Street Reds. Michael often attends these sessions with his wife Lisa and other team members from his own charitable foundation, the Michael Carrick Foundation, to engage with the participants and join in with sessions.

His support for Manchester United Foundation continues through his appearance in this match, and you can pledge your support too by confirming your attendance!

Tickets for the match can be purchased here.