Former Cardiff City player Gavin Rae has revealed secrets about his close pal Kevin McNaughton, whose benefit match is at Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday, March 26 (3pm).
Fellow Scot Rae says ’Super Kev’ was a Bluebirds champion when it came to computer game ‘Call Of Duty’ plus the most consistent winner of ‘Mario Kart’ among players.
Rae also believes some of McNaughton’s proudest moments came at the players annual Christmas night out, saying: “He enjoyed the Christmas fancy dress. He won it a lot and loved those moments.”
Fellow Scot Rae, who made more than 150 first team appearances for the Bluebirds during four years with the club from 2007, now lives in Sydney and works in IT recruitment.
He is also a manager in semi-professional football and is still playing at the age of 39.
Rae and McNaughton got to know each other when they were playing football in Scotland.
“I played for Dundee, where Kev is from, and he played for Aberdeen, where I was born,” says Rae. “Our paths crossed a fair bit.
“When i joined Cardiff it was easy to relate to him and we became good friends. I’m gutted to be missing his well deserved testimonial. It would have been great to see everyone again and enjoy Kev’s big day.
“It sounds as though it is going to be an awesome day, but I just couldn’t get the time to be there.”
Defender McNaughton spent almost a decade playing for Cardiff City and Rae recalls: “It always looked as though he could never get through a game. Kev was always stiff and not really flexible, but as soon as we were on the pitch he was all over the place.
“He’s a machine, the sort of player that could go on holiday all summer then come back in for pre-season and absolutely destroy everyone at the running. He is super fit underneath all the grey hair and creaking bones.
“Kev also loves a gadget and computer games. ‘Call of Duty’ was a favourite and he was club champion, while becoming the most consistent winner of ‘Mario Kart’ between the boys.
Former Cardiff City player Gavin Rae has revealed secrets about his close pal Kevin McNaughton, whose benefit match is at Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday, March 26 (3pm).
“I hope he gets the day he deserves. His all-action style endeared him to the Bluebirds faithful and i am sure they will turn out in their droves to see the game with all the old faces returning.”
Standard tickets for McNaughton’s benefit match are £10 with concessions available and can be purchased via the Cardiff City ticket website: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/cardiffcity/details/event.aspx?itemref=5452
The Ticket Office telephone number is 0845 345 1400.
The Ticket Office telephone number is 0845 345 1400.
Kevin McNaughton testimonial squads:
Super Kev’s team: Kevin McNaughton, Mark Hudson, Ben Turner, Lee Naylor, Stephen McPhail, Riccy Scimeca, Craig Conway, Don Cowie, Steven Thompson, Michael Chopra, Jon Parkin, Alex Winter, Matthew Pritchard, Barry McNaughton, Ross O’Donaghue, Darren Mackie plus one competition winning fan.
Bellamy’s Boys: Craig Bellamy, Andy Legg, Darren Purse, Peter Whittingham, Paul Parry, Robert Earnshaw, Andy Campbell, Trevor Sinclair, Craig Noone, Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink, Sean Connelly, Chris Barker, Jason Mohammad plus one competition winning fan.