Kevin McNaughton spent almost a decade with Cardiff City and enjoyed some of the best moments of his career with the Bluebirds.
He loved Ninian Park, had a fantastic rapport with the fans and played for City four times at Wembley Stadium in the FA Cup (twice), Championship play-off final and League Cup final.
‘SuperKev’ signed in 2006, moved on a couple of years ago and his benefit match is at Cardiff City Stadium this Sunday (3pm).
Here he selects his All-Star Bluebirds XI from his team-mates during his time in South Wales.
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.
Kevin McNaughton’s All-Star Bluebirds team
Formation: 3-5-2
Super Kev’s dream XI… and best boss
Goalkeeper
David Marshall
“Has shown how good he is in the Premier League. Fantastic shot stopper.”
Centre-backs
Mark Hudson
“Had a monumental season during the season Cardiff City were promoted. Fantastic captain on and off the field, a real leader.”
Ben Turner
“Tower of a man. Has all the attributes needed for a centre-back. Strong partnership with Huds when they played together”
Darren Purse
“If you could bottle the guys determination and give it out before a game you’d have a team of warriors. Leader and all round good guy off the pitch”
Midfield
Chris Burke
“Absolute workhorse. Loved playing with him in front of me. Scored important goals for Cardiff.”
Aaron Ramsey
“The best young player I’ve played with. Hugely talented off both feet, while his range of passing and eye for goal are outstanding. Great to see him shining for Arsenal and Wales.”
Stephen McPhail
“Great left foot. It seemed impossible to get the ball off him in training. Highly intelligent footballer who always picked the right pass.”
Joe Ledley
“Local lad. Would have loved to have seen him in the promotion-winning team. Big game player who scored some crucial goals for us and has done well in the Premier League.”
Peter Whittingham
“At his best is a match winner. Top quality delivery from set-pieces, great vision and his range of passing is phenomenal. Fantastic left foot. So laid back he’s a human sun-lounger”
Forwards
Michael Chopra
“I was astonished during my first season at Cardiff because I had never seen a natural finisher like him. He fired 22 Championship goals.”
Jay Bothroyd
“All the talent in the world. Personally, I felt Dave Jones got the best out of him. He won an England cap and if he was more consistent Jay would have played in the Premier League for years.”
Substitutes
Neil Alexander
“Pulled off some ridiculous stops. Another guy I wished had stayed around a bit longer.”
Roger Johnson
“At his best a top defender – and could nick a few goals as well.”
Gavin Rae
“Every squad needs a guy like Gav. Covered every blade of grass. One of the best pros I met. Learned a lot from him.”
Craig Noone
“Lost count of the players I’ve seen have been unscrewed from the training ground turf after a one-on-one with this character.”
Ross McCormack
“His technique was frightening. Strikes ball well with both feet real handful when he’s on song.”
Steven Thompson
“Absolute madman off the pitch. Funny, funny guy, also a cracking player. Great to see him winning the Scottish League Cup with St Mirren, the club he supported as a boy, a few years ago.”
Team manager
Dave Jones
“He was the manager who brought me to Cardiff City and I played some of my best football when he was in charge.”
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.