AFC Bournemouth manager takes on the Army, the Navy and the RAF

He will swap the boss’ bench for the pitch to play alongside some of the club’s best and most popular former players and staff.

The team will be up against a special Armed Forces X1 in the match, to raise money for the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation.

The Legends side will also feature Jimmy Glass, Steve Fletcher, Jamie Vincent, John Bailey, Brian Stock, Steve Jones, Russell Beardsmore, Steve Strong, Steve Purches, Christopher Warren and Matty Holland.

They will be playing under the watchful eye of manager for the day, John Williams.

The match will be played on Bank Holiday Monday May 6 at Wimborne Town Football Club and organisers hope it will attract a capacity crowd of 3,500 spectators.

Organisers hope to create a party atmosphere with music from Samba Panache, a bar, food, and live music with Running Wylde.

There will also be a kids football tournament, auction and raffle with prizes including London theatre tickets, a singed Gareth Southgate England shirt and an Aston Martin experience.

The Young Achievers Foundation was set up following the tragic death of John Thornton in Afghanistan in 2008.

It supports young people from a wide range of youth organisations, providing them with scholarships and bursaries to support their personal development and the pursuit of their ambitions.

The aim is to give young people opportunities such as those seized by John.

Although he died at the young as of 22, he had already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, flown with the Red Arrows, qualified as a free-fall skydriver and travelled across New Zealand.

He had also played a variety of sports and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as a Royal Marines officer.

Since it was established it has raised more than half a million pounds while operating under the key values of courage, determination, unselfishness and cheerfulness in adversity.

Kick-off on May 6 is at 1pm and tickets, costing just £5 each, can be purchased from jtyaf.org