The Bantams are hosting a Stephen Darby appreciation evening on Tuesday, October 30, to raise funds for the former City captain.

Darby announced his retirement from professional football last month after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

The event, which gets underway from 7.30pm at Valley Parade, will raise money to support Darby and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

It promises to be a star-studded occasion – hosted by Pulse Radio’s Jason Thornton – with several of Darby’s former team-mates and managers attending, including Gary Jones, Rory McArdle, James Hanson, Billy Clarke, Filipe Morais and Jon Stead.

The night will formally mark the launch of a brand-new book, 'Who We Are', written by Bantams fan Jason McKeown, which boasts interviews with the likes of Paul Jewell, Stuart McCall, Gary Jones and T&A chief sports writer Simon Parker.

McKeown said: “We were originally setting up a launch night for the book when we heard the news about Stephen Darby.

“Like all City fans, we were devastated and began to talk about whether there is anything we could do to support him.

“We came up with the idea of changing the book launch night into something of a celebration of Stephen and the response has been fantastic.

“We really hope this will be a special evening where fans can come together and hear from their heroes from the past, while raising funds for a really worthy cause.”

Tickets for the event are priced at £10 and are on sale now.

All proceeds from tickets and the event itself will be donated to Darby and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

* Stephen Darby was present along with former City team-mates Nathan Clark and Colin Doyle to support a Macmillan Cancer Support coffee morning at The Highfield Pub in Idle.

The function raised £1,188.35.