AN ARMY of hundreds have begun their charity march from Valley Parade to Anfield this morning, including a slew of well-known faces.
March of the Day got underway from Bradford City’s home ground at 9am today – the latest fundraiser drive in the battle with MND (motor neurone disease).
The event is dedicated to Bantams legend Stephen Darby and former Huddersfield Town forward Marcus Stewart – who both have MND – and raising money for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation.
A large group of people, consisting of football fans and famous faces, gathered on the pitch just before setting off on the 178-mile walk to Liverpool’s Anfield.
The challenge will include stops at 17 football clubs along the way, including Leeds United, Huddersfield Town, Manchester City, Manchester United, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, and Everton, before the endpoint on Sunday.
The Telegraph & Argus caught up with the train of walkers at around the four-mile mark, as they turned onto an incline up Owlcotes Road.
People were in high spirits, with a motorist beeping as they passed by the spread-out line of walkers to spur them on.
More than 50 former footballers, including Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, and Jill Scott, are expected to join the journey along the way, and the T&A spoke to former England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland as he wandered along.
He said: “I love walking, I love getting out, I love talking to people, sharing experiences and yeah when they asked me it was an easy decision to make.”
Kirkland added: “Seeing that many people at Valley Parade before, in Bradford, was just incredible.
“I think over the course of the three days there’s 700-800 people going to be involved, finishing at my club, Anfield, Liverpool, on Sunday, which is going to be fantastic.
“I’m sure emotional as well for the end of the walk.”
At one point, Rob Burrow – who suffers from MND – came past with wife Lindsey.
Eleanor – a season ticket holder of 18 years at Valley Parade – and John – a Leeds United fan – have put their rivalry to the side for the walk, as many others we saw wandering long had too.
Darby was a hero of Eleanor’s and she thinks everyone coming together shows that football can unify and “put those kind of rivalries aside”.
She said: “They’re fun on matchdays but with something like this, it doesn’t matter what team you support, it’s for the greater cause.”
A JustGiving page setup for the event has had £6,342 in donations towards a target of £10,000 so far, at the time of writing.
Kirkland and Bantams manager Graham Alexander, who was also on the walk, both agree that initiatives like March of the Day are “vital” in the battle against MND for various reasons.
Alexander said: “They’re vital really because the biggest thing with a disease like this, the funding, the knowledge of it, it’s pretty limited.
“So it’s the start of a long journey to bring everyone’s awareness, raise funds, and hopefully find treatments, cures, and things like that, because when it’s affecting a lot of people, but when it’s somebody who you know, or someone in the public eye who’s representing your club and this that and the other, I think it brings it a bit closer to home.”
Kirkland said: “One day hopefully there will be a cure for MND.
“By doing things like this, it just raises awareness.”
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