A POPULAR football fanzine team has raised more than £10,000 for food banks after playing Football Manager for 24 hours straight.
The Square Ball - a Leeds United fanzine - hosted a live stream of the effort on YouTube and Periscope, which began at around 10am yesterday.
The aim of the marathon was to raise money for the Leeds Fans Food Bank - a joint effort from the club, the Leeds United Supporters' Trust and fans to support food banks across Leeds.
Football Manager Marathon https://t.co/Y3Umf8v0Z1
— The Square Ball (@TheSquareBall) April 4, 2020
The team decided to use the 2007 version of Football Manager.
They said on social media website, Twitter: "Not merely an attempt to escape our children, we're also doing it to raise money for Leeds Fans Foodbank.
"We won't be playing the current version, of course.
"In an attempt to forget about all the bad things happening in the world, we're going back to the summer of 2007.
"A happier time of, er, Ken Bates, administration and -15 points."
The team welcomed a number of guests throughout the stream, including comedians, Jon Richardson and Rob Mulholland.
By the end of the non-stop marathon, The Square Ball had managed to get Leeds promoted from League One into the Championship via the play-offs and Wembley.
⚽️ 24 hours straight on @FootballManager...
— The Square Ball (@TheSquareBall) April 5, 2020
✅ Won a playoff final at Wembley
✅ Over £12,000 raised for @LUFCFoodbank
✅ Saw @RonJichardson draped in nothing but an #LUFC flag
😴 Thanks so much if you watched or donated. Time for bed. pic.twitter.com/fBQdmOX5Da
There was £12,500 in the pot before the stream started and the team managed to raise enough on top of that to hit the £25,000 at the end of the mammoth effort.
2️⃣5️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ hit
— LUFC Trust (@lufctrust) April 5, 2020
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