Ex Premier League stars team up for Joe Thompson 'Goals for Cure' charity game

A number of former Premier League stars are returning to the pitch for a special charity match this weekend.

The 'Goals for Cure' game takes place at Rochdale's Crown Oil Arena and will raise funds for the GoFundMe page of former Dale player Joe Thompson, who has been cancer for the third time.

Thompson, a Manchester United academy product, has beaten cancer twice before and scored the goal that kept Dale up in the 2017/18 season.

Last month, the 35-year-old revealed he had been diagnosed with stage four lymphoma and that the cancer had spread to his lungs.

He is hoping to raise £250,000 for ongoing treatment and to pioneer a groundbreaking test that could prevent the recurrence of his cancer - and potentially save the lives of many others in the future.

£90,000 has been raised so far after a flurry of donations and the charity match, in its second year, will go a long way to adding to the total.

Ex stars like Stephen Ireland, Papiss Cisse, Oumar Niasse, Phil Bardsley, Alex Bruce, Jermaine Beckford, Chris Eagles and Adrian Mariappa have all signed up, while influencers/presenters Mark Wright, Specs Gonzalez and Billythegoat are also involved.

A Thompson XI will take on a Celebrity All Stars side on Saturday 11 May for a 4pm kick-off.

Tickets are £7 for adults, £5 for over 65's and £3 for under 16s and can be purchased from the Goals for Cure website, with all the proceeds going towards the fight against cancer.