JEFF Stelling is embarking on another epic walking challenge for Prostate Cancer UK – spanning four countries in four days – and is urging the public to join him.

The long-serving Hartlepool United fan, club president and Sky Sports presenter has already completed 25 walking marathons for the leading men’s health charity in 2016 and 2017, raising close to £800,000, and aims to march through the £1m fundraising barrier as he travels to Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff and London from September 5-8.

The four-day event is part of Prostate Cancer UK’s wider walking programme, March for Men, which returns bigger and better in 2019 and also includes 10 City Walks across the UK in June.

Stelling will follow up his two mega marches from Hartlepool to Wembley, and Exeter to Newcastle, by pounding the pavements across the major metropoles of four nations via a host of football clubs.

He is urging the public to pull on their walking boots to join him and support the charity in their quest to help stop prostate cancer being a killer.

“It’s three years since I started this life-saving journey at the gates of my club, Hartlepool United, but there is still so much work to do,” said Jeff, who regularly wears the Prostate Cancer UK Man of Men pin badge on Soccer Saturday.

“Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with one man dying every 45 minutes from this disease. That’s unacceptable, and that’s why I’m walking again.

“It’s an indiscriminate disease, affecting men and their loved ones across the UK. I’ve walked alongside many of them and am proud to call some my friends. Their reaction and positive outlook despite being dealt the toughest of hands is simply unbelievable. I’m marching for them – and everyone affected – in a bid to fund the research to change the game.

“That’s why I’m taking our walk across into four home nations and would love the public to join me along en route. I live in England and work in London but the wonderful work of Prostate Cancer UK stretches into Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, so I will be pounding the pavements in four historic cities – and it wouldn’t be a football march without popping in on some iconic football clubs along the way.”

Not only will Stelling navigate 26 miles of walking on each day and trips to 16 new clubs, taking his three-walk tally to 89, but will also face the added challenge of transport connections, including two flights across the Irish Sea.

And, as ever, he wants company as he marches to a million, with walkers invited to join him across all four routes and help him reach his fundraising target. You can find out more via http://marchformen.org 

His 100-plus mile March for Men kicks off at Hampden Park, home of the Scottish national team, and the nation’s oldest club, Queens Park, in the morning of September 5 and also heads to Rangers and Celtic before visiting Hamilton Academical and finishing at Motherwell.

He will then board a plane to Belfast that evening with day two starting at Northern Ireland Football League Premier League club Crusaders before culminating at Windsor Park, home of Linfield as well as the Northern Ireland national team. The Belfast route also visits Cliftonville FC and Glentoran FC.

After flying back across the Irish Sea, Saturday, September 7, sees him in Wales where he will head from League Two Newport County to Premier League Cardiff City and finish at the Principality Stadium.

A train into England will follow that evening before the final amble across London on 8 September, from West Ham United’s London Stadium to Charlton Athletic, Millwall, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

Stelling’s September stroll is part of the third March for Men campaign, another opportunity for the public to raise funds to fight this killer disease.

Now in its third year, Prostate Cancer UK’s March for Men series has grown bigger with ten organised walks including returns to Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Nottingham and new walks in Belfast, Birmingham and Cardiff.

The family-friendly ambles are held over circa 2km, 5km and 10km and supporters are also encouraged to organise their own walks.