Marcos Ayerza's Testimonal Year

31 year old Marcos Ayerza arrived at Welford Road in the summer of 2006 and since then he has been at the very heart of the side’s success playing in 6 Premiership Finals and 2 Heineken Cup Finals. He is one of the club’s longest service members and constantly puts his body on the line, 193 appearances not out is an outstanding innings of professional rugby and this year it is time to mark such an achievement with Marcos’ Testimonial Year. Testimonial Years are a huge celebration of a player’s career and are organised by a dedicated committee of independent individuals separate to their club or country. Out On The Full is delighted to be working with Marcos and his committee to showcase what will be an action packed year of events and celebrations.

Marcos’ year will begin with a bang in early October (9th) with a stunning Launch Dinner that will be held at Welford Road. As a popular and longstanding member of the Tigers squad naturally Marcos will have his Leicester colleagues there for support and of course to share with us some cracking stories and insights about the main man himself. Tom Croft, Geoff Parling, Tom Youngs and Dan Cole are just a few of the confirmed guests and I expect that the guys are already discussing which stories will and won’t make the cut for the night!!! Also the evening will formally present the full calendar of events and introduce Marcos’ chosen charity beneficiaries; Hope Against Cancer, a Leicester based Cancer Research charity, The Matt Hampson Foundation and the Affinity Trust.  

After launching the year with a bang there are a number of other first class events that have already been confirmed for this year and next. In November there will be a start studded Captains Dinner with past and present Tigers captains all honouring Marcos. The guest speakers include Martin Corry, Louis Deacon, Geordan Murphy and the newly appointed Tigers’ Club Captain Ed Slater. This event sold out in just ten days however I’ve heard that there may be the capacity to increase numbers so do watch this space!

An event that has been popular for a number of years at Welford Road is Ladies Night and this year it will form an integral part of Marcos’ Testimonial Year. On Ladies Nights the entire Leicester squad act as Wine Waiters for the evening and I’ve been reliably informed that Geoff Parling and Jordan Crane have already volunteered to perform on the night. The theme is 'The Tigers Big Reunion' in the style of the ITV Show The Big Reunion and the date has been confirmed as Wednesday 3rd December. Ladies, tickets are a must and gentlemen I’m afraid this one is for the ladies only however I believe that you would be the best friend/boyfriend/husband in the world if you delivered surprise tickets for it! Just a thought!

The celebrations continue well into 2015 with dinners, luncheons and more and Out On The Full will be there every step of the way to deliver event previews and information so that you can get your diaries out and be part of what will be a fabulous year celebrating a true warrior of the Tigers' pack. Out On The Full will also be speaking to Marcos, his fellow Tigers and deliver all to you all of the action from the events. Over the years Marcos’ contribution to the Tigers has been phenomenal and personally cannot wait to be part of celebrating his superb rugby career to date.

All the information you need about the Launch Dinner is at http://matestimonial.com/  or emailing enquiries@matestimonial.com and Out On The Full will keep you fully informed of all Marcos’ events during the course of the coming weeks and months!