At 37 896 it was in fact the largest crowd of the season and every one of them was there to honour The Chief. Without doubt it was a fitting tribute to the defender who gave his heart and soul to the club.

Well over £300 000 was raised towards Lucas's aim of raising £500 000 for charity in his testimonial year.

Not only did the fans turn out to support him, but the stars did too. Former United stars Gordon Strachan, Gary McAllister, Tony Yeboah, Nigel Martyn, David Wetherall and now Hollywood star Vinnie Jones were all given huge receptions.

On the World XI side Bruce Grobelaar showed his eccentricity and Jay Jay Okocha's trickery was almost worth the entrance fee alone.

Tony Yeboah may have piled on the pounds since he gave up football to open a hotel back in his native Ghana, but that did nothing to diminish his standing in the eyes of the Leeds fans who were desperate for him to making a scoring return to Elland Road.

After coming on for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Yeboah threatened to open up the World XI defence and then came to a sorry but amusing end as he slipped on the ball. He left the field to great applause and was clearly glad to be back.

The crowd waited patiently for the first goal to arrive and it came for the Leeds XI but was not scored by one of the greats, but instead for young upstart Aaron Lennon who tapped home the loose ball after Grobelaar had tipped away McAllister's shot.

John Carew, the Besiktas striker who was at one point regularly linked with Leeds, equalised with a shot from the edge of the area before Mario Melchio put the World XI 2-1 ahead at the break.

This game was all about Lucas though and he was determined to go out with a bang and that meant a goal. They kept lining up the shots for the big man but it looked at one point as if it just wasn't going to happen with everything going wide or over.

Eventually Gary Kelly waded in with a challenge on Radebe inside the area that saw referee Dermot Gallacher point to the spot and Elland Road held it's breath as the Chief addressed his shot then sent Neil Sullivan the wrong way. He celebrated with a dive and the applause could be heard in Rothwell.

Leeds Ladies striker Lucy Ward got great applause when she came on for Gary Speed and within a minute she made it grabbed a goal back for Leeds to make it 3-2 with a run from the half way line and great finish past Grobelaar.

The World XI, for whom Lucas was playing after swapping sides at half-time, then stormed ahead with United old-boy Gunnar Halle instrumental in the next two goals, first crossing for Ally McCoist to make it 4-2 and then putting home a pass from Okocha to make it 5-2.

McCoist got his second to make it 6-2 to the World XI and then Matthew Kilgallon made the most of the honour to be playing with so many great names by adding his name to the scoresheet with a cheeky chip over Grobelaar for 6-3.

The final say though fittingly remained for Radebe and what a moment it was.

He simply curled home an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area past Neil Sullivan to complete a special day for him and for the 38 000 supporters who helped make it an unforgettable day.

With testimonials for players now such a rare event, it's unlikely that anyone will be honoured in such a way at Elland Road again for a very, very long time.

Full-time score: Leeds XI 3 World XI 7

Report courtesy of Leedsunited.com