THE chairman of the Northern League, Mike Amos, is standing down at the end of next season.

The Northern Echo columnist, who has been chair of the football league for 20 years and turns 70 next year, will mark his retirement season by completing 44 pre-match 12-mile walks - over 500 miles in total.

He hopes to raise at least £10,000, with half going to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and the other half to be spread between good causes nominated by each of the 44 Northern League teams.

"It's called the Last Legs challenge, because I'm on my last legs," he said. "The old legs are getting a bit more achey and it will be quite a challenge given the North East winter can be pretty horrible.

"Clubs in the Northern League are very much at the heart of their communities anyway, much more so than the bigger clubs, but I hope that by being able to nominate their own local good causes it will strengthen their links with their communities even further. I also hope people from each of the clubs will walk with me for sponsorship themselves when I walk to their grounds."

Mr Amos, who was presented with the MBE for services to journalism in 2007, said the best moment of his chairmanship was seeing Tow Law Town make it to the final of the FA Vase at Wembley in 1998.

He said: "It was a lovely summer day and Harry Dixon, the club treasurer, was at the top of Wembley Way wearing 24 tops, seven cardigans and eight coats, because that's what you have to do in Tow Law, and he was standing ten feet tall with a 48 inch chest because he was just so proud at the improbability of it all.

"I will never forget that image. Tow Law lost one-nil but in a sense it didn't matter, because Tow Law was at Wembley."

Mr Amos, whose position as chair is unpaid, said when he took over as chair of the Northern League in 1996 it hadn't seen a team get to Wembley for 27 years, but throughout his 20 year tenure it had happened seven times.

This season, and last season he went to 102 games each, and 101 the season before that, despite not being able to drive.

To support Mr Amos' challenge visit www.justgiving.com/lastlegschallenge.