Saint Albans City Football Club supporters joined a march to Wembley to raise awareness of prostate cancer.
The Football March for Men was organised by Prostate Cancer UK on Sunday, and saw clubs such as Saint Albans City FC (SACFC), West Ham and Sutton United marching to the home of English football.
SACFC commercial manager Phil Coates, who had surgery to treat ths type of cancer in 2014, said: “I’m cycling and walking and even running for Prostate Cancer UK this year because of the help that they gave me back in 2014 and have done since.
“I want to give something back and encouraged our football team to really support the charity which they’re doing more than ever this year with 48 riders going to Amsterdam.
“There’s a lot of camaraderie between St Albans fans and fans from clubs all over the area who march together. Walking to Wembley with Jeff Stelling two years ago is something I’ll never forget.”
For the first time, the number of men dying from prostate cancer every year has overtaken the number of women dying from breast cancer, making prostate cancer the third biggest cancer killer in the UK, behind lung cancer and bowel cancer.
Prostate Cancer UK say a man dies from the disease every 45 minutes in the UK.
“That’s unacceptable”, says the charity’s chief executive Angela Culhane. “We need to turn that around and I’m thrilled our walking programme continues to gather momentum and look forward to beating the drum even louder across the UK this year as we mobilise legions of our supporters.
“Thanks to the money raised we can fund more ground-breaking research, and it will also help us provide dedicated support and information to men and their families and make prostate cancer a disease the next generation of men need not fear.
“We’ve got a way to go but these walks are the perfect way to take a step in the right direction.”
Money donated to Prostate Cancer UK will go towards diagnosis, treatment and prevention, and also support and information for sufferers of the disease.
To sign up to a March for Men or find out more information visit www.prostatecanceruk.org/footballmarch
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