United in support of terror attack victims

FUNDRAISERS . . . Six-year-old Freddie Farnell, from Springhead FC, holds the cheque aloft with other volunteers, organisers and participants from the 24-hour football marathon

FOOTBALL legend Paul Scholes last night handed over a cheque for more than £40,000 which was raised from a 24-hour football match in aid of the victims of the Manchester attack.

Footballers of all ages came together during a star-studded match which raised four times the amount of the initial target.

Backed by former England and Manchester United star Paul Scholes and boxer Anthony Crolla, more than 300 of the city's football teams and 2,000 footballers took part in the footballing marathon on June 2.

The £43,721 raised was given to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, a charity set up by the British Red Cross to support victims of the attack.

Before kick-off, those attending observed a minute's silence and 22 balloons were released in memory of the 22 people who died after a suicide bomber targeted Ariana Grande's concert at Manchester Arena on May 22.

DJ Mike Sweeney, boxer Terry Flanagan and former Oldham Athletic player and manager Andy Ritchie were among the participants on the day at Curzon Ashton FC's Tameside Stadium.

Mark Howard, one of seven organisers and manager of Chadderton FC who took part, said: "The £10,000 was our initial aim. We thought it would be good to raise that but it has passed all of our expectations. You just don't realise the love and support from people."

"We were devastated by the events and wanted to do something and it just escalated, everybody wanted to get involved."

Mark gave special credit to Simon Cooper who came up with the idea of the marathon match.

He said: "Simon deserves a massive amount of credit for the organising of the match."

More than 60 footballs went missing over fences and bushes during the event, forcing organisers to put out urgent appeals on social media. However, dozens of volunteers, relief volunteers and supporters ensured not a single match was missed.