Stars in the spotlight for Labour fundraising dinner at Wembley

The guest list included many acknowledged greats of British sport over the past decade at a £1,000-a-head celebrity dinner, where supporters of the new Gordon Brown era gathered to raise funds for the cash-strapped Labour Party.

The event, held last night at Wembley Stadium, followed hard on the heels of the Concert for Diana and the Live Earth concert last weekend. Given Mr Brown's passion for football, it was perhaps no surprise the first fundraiser since he became Prime Minister should focus on sport.

The famous names attending the dinner at the stadium included Sir Alex Ferguson, the boss of Manchester United, and a close friend of Alastair Campbell, as well as former athletes Steve Cram, Tessa Sanderson, Fatima Whitbread, and Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson.

The dinner , at which the party was hoping to raise £500,000 towards paying off the party's £20m debts, brought Tony Blair and Gordon Brown together again.

Mr Blair joked about his difficulty in coming to terms with life after Downing Street and said that after a decade in office he needed to be taught how to use a mobile phone. When he managed to finally send a text was somewhat bemused to receive one back that said: 'Who are you?'.

John Prescott, whose left hook put some punch into Labour's campaign for the 2001 general election auctioned a boxing glove signed by former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali.

Richard Caborn, the former sports minister who came up with the idea of a sporting fund-raising event, joked: "We are making Dorneywood [Mr Prescott's former grace and favour house in Buckinghamshire] a centre of sporting excellence... for boxing and croquet."

One of David Beckham's football shirts was also auctioned along with shirts signed by Zinedine Zidane, the French international, and Eusebio, the former Portugal star.

Other guests included the Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall, a diehard Manchester United fan, the actor Sean Bean, a supporter of Sheffield United, the BBC football commentator John Motson and Nancy Del'Ollio, the partner of Sven-Goran Eriksson, the former England coach.

Mr Caborn, who has been made an "ambassador" for Britain's bid for the football World Cup in 2018 after the successful campaign for the Olympics, said: "It was a party and a fundraising event to celebrate the great achievements in sport over the past decade but it is also looking forward to 2012 and 2018."

Mr Campbell, a Burnley supporter, whose diaries have caused controversy this week, was also among the hosts. He said he hoped to raise more than £100,000 from the auction to help Labour "keep on winning

Prizes included a day's training for two people at Manchester United, courtesy of Sir Alex Ferguson, a training day for two with the Welsh rugby team coach Gareth Jenkins and a South African football strip worn by Pele and signed by Nelson Mandela at an event for the former South African president's 89th birthday to celebrate South Africa winning the right to host the football World Cup in 2010.A film by Lord Puttnam of great sporting achievements of the past decade was also screened.

The event also raised money for the charity StreetGames, which promotes sport in inner-city areas. Mr Brown has avoided the "Cool Britannia" celebrity parties at No 10 that accompanied the Blairs' arrival in Downing Street. "The idea is to get together some of the most famous figures in sport to kick off the Brown premiership," said a party source. " Blair was close to the luvvies but Brown is more comfortable with top sportsmen."