They are two of the most instantly recognisable sporting names from the 1980s and 90s, and they are heading down Moss Lane to make the build-up to Christmas more special than ever for football fans throughout the Altrincham area.

Battle-hardened former England midfielder Peter Reid, who crossed swords with Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup, and his international team-mate, ex-Manchester United right-back Viv Anderson, are the A-list celebrity guest speakers at a first-ever Christmas Roast event at The J.Davidson Stadium at the beginning of December.

With plans for the festive season beginning to take shape, this is an occasion not to be missed, with Peter, every bit as fearless and forthright a speaker as he was as a player, and Viv, renowned for having a fund of amusing anecdotes from his playing days, taking to the stage in the Community Sports Hall on Friday December 8th in a first for Alty that is kindly sponsored by J.Davidson.

Doors open at midday in readiness for a 12.30pm sit down for a two-course Christmas lunch, followed by an afternoon of laughter and nostalgia from the very highest level of national and international football, and tickets priced £60 or £550 for a table of 10 are available for purchase now!

"This will be a fantastic afternoon, hearing Viv and Peter relive their lives in football and share stories from two stellar careers," said Alty chief executive officer John Williams. "This event is something I've organised in previous years, and they have always been incredibly popular, so I'm delighted to bring this to our club, which also massively helps us of course.

"A number of tables have been sold already, so to avoid disappointment I'd urge you to book your tables as soon as you can for what will be a great afternoon. I'd like to thank J Davidson Scrap for their incredible support as title sponsors and look forward to seeing everyone in December."

Compere and comedian Dave Broadbent is hosting the event, the dress code for which is smart casual, and, after welcoming everyone and briefly introducing Peter and Viv, a two-course lunch will be served.

A trip down Memory Lane will then dominate proceedings, with Peter and Viv sitting either side of the compere and initially being quizzed by him before the floor is opened up for questions.

And it's fair to say there's plenty of ground to cover for anyone wanting an insight into some of the main talking points at club and international level from an era that was never short of drama or incident.

What a season 1984-5 was for Peter, three years after he joined Everton from Bolton Wanderers for the princely sum of £60,000.

A driving force in central midfield in an irresistible Everton line-up, he won the old First Division title and the European Cup Winners' Cup and was voted PFA Player of the Year as well as finishing fourth in World Soccer Player of the Year behind such luminaries as Michel Platini, Preben Elkjaer and Diego Maradona.

It wasn't all plain sailing that year, though. Famously, he was the player on the receiving end of a foul that earned Kevin Moran the dubious distinction of becoming the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup final, as Manchester United made light of being down to 10 men to win 1-0 with a goal by Norman Whiteside.

The following year, Peter was one of several England players left in the slipstream of Maradona for one of the Argentina forward's two goals - the legitimate one, you could say - in a 2-1 quarter-final defeat for Bobby Robson's team.

As a manager, he had a record released in his honour by a group of Sunderland fans to the tune of the Monkees' Daydream Believer and then found himself in the thick of a controversial meltdown at Leeds United, saddled with debts of £80million, when he succeeded Terry Venables in the Elland Road hot seat.

There will surely be no shortage of questions for friend-of-Alty Viv, either, after the way he bounced back from the crushing disappointment of being told as a teenager by Manchester United that he fell just short of requirements at Old Trafford.

Nottingham born and bred, he seized an opportunity that came his way a little closer to home as he became an integral part of a Forest side that won the league in 1977-78 and, quite incredibly, followed up with two successive triumphs in the European Cup.

Capped 30 times by England, he had some titanic battles for Arsenal against United after joining the Gunners for £250,000 in the summer of 1984, so much so that Sir Alex Ferguson decided that he did have what was required for Old Trafford after all after being impressed with the way he rolled up his sleeves and responded to a sending-off for David Rocastle in one of many heavyweight clashes between the two teams.

In all, Viv played for Brian Clough, George Graham, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ron Atkinson, Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables - material aplenty for anyone wanting to ask a question on Friday December 8th!

There will be a raffle as well, with an abundance of prizes on offer, so don't delay - reserve your place now at this pre-Christmas extravaganza by clicking here.