[1] The practice started at a time when player compensation, even those at top professional clubs, was at a level that made it difficult to maintain it as a primary form of employment therefore retirement savings might not exist.
[2][3] However, testimonial matches for players who have given many years of service to the club (i.e. one-club men) and are popular with fans have a higher turnout.
For example, longtime Sunderland and Republic of Ireland star Niall Quinn, in a "friendly" in 2002 at the Stadium of Light, donated all of the nearly-£1-million proceeds of the match to the charitable foundation he started that go to the support of children's hospitals in Tyne and Wear, Ireland, and India.
[3] Another high-profile charitable testimonial was that of England rugby player Martin Johnson, held at Twickenham on 4 June 2005.
On 4 September 2010, a crowd of 35,682 attended Jamie Carragher's testimonial match at Anfield, after fifteen years of service to Liverpool, and helped to raise more than £1 million for the defender's "23 Foundation" charity.