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For our friends in the UK, this coming weekend marks an annual celebrity charity athletic event of which there is no American equivalent: Soccer Six.

Soccer Six is a football tournament played by teams from the disparate worlds of music, film, television, and football itself, all in the good name of charity.

I attended Soccer Six in 2007, unsure of what to expect because although I am a sports fan, I'm also the stereotypical American in that the universal appeal of non-American football has always eluded me slightly. But despite all that, I was thoroughly won over.

There's just something about watching Babyshambles and Razorlight fight it out in an athletic environment. And when Peter Doherty, in between cartwheels and playing to the crowd, scored the winning goal in their final match of the day, I found myself so invested that I was jumping and screaming from the sidelines. Doherty later spoke of the Soccer Six trophy as an inspiration to carry on when things in his life were getting rather, well, complicated.

Babyshambles won first place at that 2007 Soccer Six, but came in second last year to the British band Faithless. Babyshambles are playing again this year, so perhaps Doherty & company can regain their title against the likes of The View, The Hoosiers, Blue, Danny Dyer, and the casts of Skins and The Inbetweeners. A recent addition to the roster is Peter's former Libertines bandmate Carl Barat. This follows The Libertines reunion that took place last weekend at a show in honor of Jonny Rhythm.

Soccer Six has existed for 15 years, with a roster of participants including Blur, Oasis, Jimmy Carr, Robbie Williams, Rod Stewart, Danny Dyer, and Kasabian. These events have supported numerous charities, with The Samaritans being recipients again this year. It will be held at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge Football Club this Sunday, May 24th. Tickets are £12 for adults and £10 for juniors. You can order them from Ticketmaster.

Have a look at some previous Soccer Six players...

For more Soccer Six info, visit their website, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

See more photos at http://www.andrewtimms.co.uk