A charity day in memory of one-time Gloucester centre Martin Roberts was a huge success.

Sharon Roberts, the mother of Martin’s three children, was one of the organisers of the event which took place at Hucclecote Rugby Club on Saturday.

All money raised – organisers hope the final sum will be around £2,000 – will go towards Winston’s Wish and Wooden Spoon.

“It was an amazing day from start to finish,” said Sharon. “There was a game between the Cherrypickers and the Marauders and it was just great to see so many of the old faces.”

Those old faces included some top Gloucester players from yesteryear including Dave Sims, Bob Phillips, Kevin Dunn, Tim Smith, Adam Eustace and Rob Fidler.

And after those one-time Cherry and Whites had strutted their stuff on the pitch, they gave way to Too Old For Toys, a rock and pop covers band, who strutted their stuff on a makeshift stage.

And they proved just as popular as the rugby players.

“Everyone was dancing,” said Sharon, “it was brilliant. They played songs from the 60s right up to the current day.”

And young Alfie Roberts, Martin and Sharon’s son, also played a big part in the day’s proceedings.

“There was a minute’s silence before the start of the game,” said Sharon. “He led the boys back off the pitch when it had finished. It was very touching.”

And Alfie also got the chance to have a runout on the pitch as well.

“At half-time, Hucclecote’s Under-10s, who Alfie plays for, took on Longlevens Under-10s and Alfie scored a try,” said his proud mum, who has confirmed that a date has already been set for next year’s charity day.

“It will be on Saturday 4th May at Hucclecote,” she said.

Martin, who also played for Birmingham/Solihull, Moseley, Cheltenham and Cinderford before going on to coach at Chosen Hill, died just over two years ago from thrombosis at the age of 48.

“I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a big success,” added Sharon. “Warren Milne and Alan Evans organised the teams and then there’s all the kitchen staff, bar staff and Hucclecote Rugby Club. Everybody was brilliant.”