Comedian Maisie Adam returns to Soccer Aid 2026, having previously got married just hours before the charity match
Maisie Adam attending the launch screening of the new BBC series Dear England(Image: PA Wire)
Soccer Aid returns for its 2026 edition, boasting yet another glittering line-up of footballers and celebrities.
West Ham’s London Stadium plays host as a World XI go head-to-head with an England XI in an event that has raised millions for charity over the course of nearly 20 years.
Harry Redknapp will take charge of England alongside pop singer Robbie Williams.
Usain Bolt will occupy the opposition technical area, with the match getting under way at 6.30pm live on ITV1.
Soccer Aid’s appeal spans the sporting and showbiz worlds, with stars of both the small and big screen rubbing shoulders with sportsmen and women who have graced World Cup finals..
Returning this year is Soccer Aid stalwart Maise Adam, the comedian who commands a considerable following. Adam plays for the Soccer Aid World XI because she has heritage from the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands, which qualifies her for the Rest of the World team rather than England.
“It’s been some kickabout this week,” she wrote online this week.
The podcast host is immediately recognisable thanks to her distinctive hairstyles. From mullet-inspired cuts to a bleached blonde look, Adam consistently sports a head-turning style.
Speaking to ITV’s CelebAbility about the fringe look she sported a few years back, she explained: “It is a unique style. I did it in lockdown. I’d always wanted to give it a go but I was never brave enough to do it, so I was like ‘come on, do it, be brave. Do it, you’ll look just like someone from This is England.’
“And then I did it and I thought ‘Oh, I don’t know if this is This is England. I think it might be back-to-front [Tiger King star] Joe Exotic’.”
She told the Evening Standard in 2021: “People sometimes think that I hate my hair, because I’ve made jokes about it. But I love it.
“If you don’t make the jokes, someone else will. I think it’s a personality thing. I don’t want to be a Plain Jane. My mum was a punk – still is – so I take after her in that respect.”
Adam was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 14 and has since created a TV programme entitled ‘Vague’, exploring her experience of growing up with the condition.
She said: “I’m absolutely chuffed to bits that my show has been recorded for NextUp. This was my debut show and I worked so hard on it. I’m very proud of it, but most importantly, I loved performing it.
“I feel that every step of my epilepsy journey has comedic value.”
She told Epilepsy Scotland: “You only get that one image of epilepsy through the media, it is one specific type, which is nowhere near representative of epilepsy.
“Only 3% are photosensitive so I was confused. I thought they had got it wrong and I couldn’t be epileptic. That sounds like a big scary word. At that time, I had childhood absence seizures called petite mal at the time. I just remember being very confused. As it went on, I started to realise that this is what I have got.
“They thought it would just be for my teenage years. I went through the trial of being taken off medication. At 16 and 17 it kept happening, so it was something I had to learn on the job. Till I was about 18 or 19, when it was properly diagnosed as juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, I didn’t feel I had a proper name for it.
“It was just something I had to deal with in the hope it would disappear one day because it felt so temporary throughout puberty, I didn’t really bother accepting it. I think that is why I have had this delayed acceptance and I am only talking about it now.”
Away from the world of comedy, the Leeds United supporter is wed to husband Michael Dobinson. The pair tied the knot just hours before the 2023 edition of the charity football match.
Casting her mind back to the hectic weekend, Maisie said: “It was the day after my wedding, so I was hungover.
“For Soccer Aid, you go to the training camp on Thursday, Friday and Saturday – and I had to leave on Saturday to go get married!
“We got married in Brighton and then the next day, at 10 O’clock in the morning, a car comes to take you to Old Trafford.
“It was just such a surreal 48 hours because I got married and then was finding myself on a bus sat next to Nani (the Portuguese footballer) and across from Roberto Carlos and then on the other side there was Lee Mack.
“I just thought, ‘How have I ended up here?’ If you’d have told me as a little kid, ‘You’ll be doing your dream job and the day after your wedding, you’ll be sat next to one of your comedy heroes and two footballing legends ready to go and play at Old Trafford…’
“It was really one of those strange sort experiences where you watch yourself from above.”
