Why are so many legends matches played?

Nostalgia, as it's known, is one of the prevailing sentiments in the world of football, as well as in sports in general. Every year, clubs and technical sponsors revisit their archives to bring to life jerseys similar to those of the past - by incorporating simple details and simply modernizing patterns. Using jerseys seems to be the most agile shortcut to revive the feeling of nostalgia, but increasingly, some clubs in particular are experimenting with other methods that can make football enthusiasts happy. One of these methods is the legends matches, amateur matches featuring great champions who have chosen to retire from football: several of these matches have been seen in recent months, from the one organized by Juventus that allowed us to witness the plays of Davids, Zidane, and Del Piero on the same field, to the one between Real Madrid and Porto.

It's important to highlight that in most cases, these are charitable sporting events. For example, the match organized by Real Madrid played at the end of March under the slogan El partido más solidario aimed to fund research for ALS and the social sports projects of the Real Madrid Foundation. The organization of this match took a long time. It was even scheduled for March 2020, but the arrival of the pandemic prevented its regular occurrence. This is to understand how difficult it is to reconcile the commitments of all the former champions involved, once "simple" footballers but today successful entrepreneurs. But this is the wait to endure if you want to see, probably for the last time in action, Seedorf, Figo, and Casillas facing Baía, Bruno Alves, and Rui Costa. Legends matches offer many other opportunities, from affirming football as entertainment sport to discovering new exploratory horizons, especially for countries where football is not (yet) a dominant sport.

When and how did interest in legends matches grow?

2022 was a fundamental year for the growth of fascination with this type of matches. FIFA launched the FIFA Legends Cup, a 5-a-side football tournament held in Dubai where it was possible to admire the athletic feats of the ubiquitous Casillas, as well as former Chelsea captain Terry and coach Klinsmann. A memorable sporting event also for an unfortunate reason, Kevin Kuranyi's cruciate ligament rupture. But what probably strikes a chord with spectators is the possibility of seeing their former idols on small-sized football fields, probably the same ones they usually enjoy playing amateur matches with their group of friends. But 2022 is also an important year for another reason. Former Barcelona defender Piqué and streamer Ibai Llamos launched the King's League, a 7-a-side football championship composed of 12 teams that allows amateur athletes to share the field with active or recently retired players, from Chicharito Hernandez to Casillas and Ronaldinho. Each match consists of two halves of 20 minutes each, and to form the teams, a model very similar to the NBA draft is used. The King's League immediately established itself as a league that makes entertainment a fundamental component: just think of the story of the masked footballer that sparked numerous conspiracy theories.

The future horizons of legends matches

As reported in this article published in the Thai newspaper Bangkok Post, Srettha Thavisin, the country's prime minister, is seeking to give greater importance to entertainment in Thailand - which is facing competition from Singapore, which instead has closed a very important deal with Taylor Swift, obtaining exclusivity on the artist's concerts in Southeast Asia. To match the tourism traffic that the singer has guaranteed to Singapore, Thavisin would have in mind to open the doors of the country to a match between the legends of Liverpool and Manchester United. The ambitions of the PM do not end here. In fact, he would like the country to become the hosting hub for the clash between the two teams. And the original project would even involve more than one match between Reds and Red Devils: one for former players aged between 40 and 50, and one exclusively for those over 50. To move forward with this project, Thavisin has met with former stars from both teams - Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, and Steve McManaman - at the government palace, demonstrating how concrete the intentions are to import English football to Thailand, but above all how both parties are interested in an operation of this caliber. The matches between legends thus become a means of stimulate interest in "The Beautiful Game" even in countries that have never hosted such stars, who remain the ambassadors of football in the world even after they have taken off their football boots.