Campbell Hatton will captain a team of Manchester City legends in Game4Ricky, a charity football match honouring his late father, boxing legend Ricky Hatton, at the Joie Stadium on Sunday, November 15.
The 25-year-old, who returned to the ring earlier this year, will swap his boxing gloves for football boots to play alongside former City stars including Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart, Joleon Lescott, Shaun Goater and Nedum Onuoha. World Cup finalist William Gallas, England international Toni Duggan and Premier League winner Wes Morgan are also set to feature.
A tribute in his father's beloved club
Speaking about the upcoming event, Campbell said: "We did Evening4Ricky a few months ago. It was a lovely day. This is going to be another example of that. My dad loved Man City and he loved Manchester."
"So, for everyone to turn out again and do it with his beloved club, a beloved club for the rest of the family as well, it's going to be another special day."
The match follows Evening4Ricky, a Las Vegas-themed tribute night held at the AO Arena earlier this year, which featured a reimagined boxing stage with a line-up of artists and performers taking part in 12 entertainment 'rounds'. Ricky Hatton died in September 2025.
Grief and preparation
Reflecting on the earlier tribute, Campbell told the M.E.N: "It was brilliant, a great turnout," adding, "a lot of it was difficult but I think it's important."
"It's easy for people to sort of shy away from things that bring up those emotions. Especially in grief, it's important to go through those emotions instead of bottling them up."
He said the event helped his family's grieving process: "I think it helped us a lot with our grief. It sort of forced us to remember how good some of the times were. It's easy to forget that a lot."
Campbell has been preparing for the match by playing for Chappell FC, a Sunday league team from Hyde set up in memory of Justin Chappell and his dad Alan. Justin, a close friend of Campbell and a popular City fan, died suddenly at 28, with his father Alan passing away four days later.
Charity and ticket details
All donations from ticket sales will go to City in the Community, a charity set up by Manchester City, which will distribute funds to mental health and suicide prevention charities.
Campbell added: "Forgetting about my dad's side of thing, the charities we're working for are a great cause as well. It's easy to forget we've got the Ricky Hatton foundation to try and tackle mental health and get people talking about that."
"We've got City in the Community doing such great work locally. It's easy to forget about the important things. So doing something like this where we can have a bit of fun but it's about important issues is a great way to do it."
Tickets for the event, priced from £15 each, are now on sale.
