Wilkshire is preparing to face off against his National Premier League champion Wollongong Wolves in what has been dubbed 'Football for Firies' in a bid to raise funds for bushfire victims.

The Wollongong mentor retired from football after a brief stint as a player for the Wolves in 2018 however he will put the boots back on one more time when he leads an Albion Park City Football Club XI into a clash with the team he coaches on January 18.

The game, which will be played at Ian McLennan Park, may be a friendly, but Wilkshire is expecting many of the players he mentors to revel in the opportunity to take down their manager.

"It's a one off and it's for a good cause, but it's a little bit scary," Wilkshire said. "I haven't played for a while and am not exactly in peak fitness, but it's for a good cause.

"It should be an interesting match, it's the Wolves first hit out for the season and it's all in good spirit and for a good cause, but I've got no doubt a few of them will be hoping to put one over on me.

"Naturally I won't be wanting to let any of them to run past me, I'll have to use all my experience because my legs aren't there anymore."

Wilkshire and Albion Park president Adrian Arciuli are currently in the process of recruiting a star-studded cast of footballers to line up alongside the club's regular amateur players for the clash.

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David Carney, Michael Bridges, Brett Emerton and Patrick Zwaanswijk are locked in, while others, including John Aloisi, are also a chance of lining up.

Arciuli and Wilkshire are also hoping to stage a clash between the Wollongong Wolves and South Coast Flame youth teams prior to the main game.

With funds so vital to support the bushfire cause and those affected by the crisis, Wilkshire urged all Illawarra football fans to unite to raise money for those in need.

"Adrian Arciuli came to me with the idea and I thought it was a good friendly for the Wolves. With my connections to Albion Park, where my football days begun I thought I should put a shirt on and add a bit more to it.

"Our region's been burning and it's affected a lot of people. Chris Price is one of our players, who's parents lost their home to the fires. Being Australian it's great to see people pulling together so it's right we do as well to support this.

"We're hoping to see a decent crowd, we're hoping to have the Salvation Army coming and it would be nice to see people turn out to support a good cause."

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