A walking marathon a day for ten days, as he strolled from Hartlepool United’s Victoria Park to Wembley Stadium.

Then a rambling marathon a day for 15 days as he walked from St James’ Park Exter to its Newcastle United namesake.

For his next adventure to raise funds for and awareness of Prostate Cancer, it’s four walking marathons in just four days.

Jeff Stelling has it easy now. He does doesn’t he? “To be honest, I’m really worried!’’ he confessed.

Tomorrow Stelling sets off in Scotland to walk from Hampden Park to Motherwell. On Friday, he’s in Northern Ireland, Saturday Wales and Sunday England.

The four home nations.

The walking might be the easy part – even though he’s feeling the strain of his training.

The flying might be the tricky bit. Flights wait for no-one, not even someone who is hoping to raise £1m for the cause.

“Everyone thinks four marathons is simple, but the logistics of it are a concern,’’ he admitted.

“We have to be at the airport by a certain time, get on board.

“And the lack of any recovery is a worry. We fly into Wales on Friday evening, land in Cardiff at five past ten, get to the hotel, get to the start for early morning. No soak, massage, physio - or beer - and I know the recovery and how important it was before.

“I’ve damaged my knees, cut out any sort of running or jogging! It’s old age creeping up on me in the four years since we started these walks and at my age…

“I’m more concerned this time than I have been for the others.’’

And one of his other concerns is just how his Hartlepool United side shapes up on Saturday evening. While Stelling is in transit from Wales to London, Pools take on Woking, live on BT Sport.

Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports is his domain and Stelling confessed: “I’ll miss Pools play on Saturday night – I’ve just downloaded the BT app my mobile so I’ll be able to see it as we drive to London. I really fancy us as well.

“Woking score a few goals, but are open at the back and teams who don’t come to us and sit in give us a chance.’’

The camaraderie and positivity of Stellling’s walks are infectious. Anyone can join in, sponsorship and fitness permitting.

He has been joined by a few regulars on his travels, including those suffering from Prostate Cancer.

“The two big heroes for me are Kevin Webber and Lloyd Pinder,’’ said Stelling. “Lloyd is a Sunderland fan and he’s not been too good of late. He texted me the other day and said ‘I’m not sure my body is up to it’ so I sent one back ‘Lloyd, I’m not sure my body is up to it and I’ve not got cancer’.

“I hope he will be there and the Soccer Saturday team are coming along – Le Tiss, Merse, Dowie, Charlie Nicholas, Bianca Westwood. Trevor Brooking, David Seaman, Frank McAvennie will be there to wave us off, Alistair Campbell, Colin Murray – regular supporters and it’s fantastic for them to support the event.’’

Stelling’s interest in Pools is not only as a fan. He’s now part-owner, joining up with Raj Singh to save the club from oblivion in April last year.

He’s well versed when it comes to clubs in financial difficulties. He spoke out at the weekend on Soccer Saturday about the downfall of Bury and admits lessons are there to be learned.

“We were close to it not too long ago at Pools,’’ he mused. “Supporters of most in League One, Two and the National League will feel sorry for Bury, but they will feel it could easily be us.

“It’s easy to apportion blame and the Football League has taken some flak and the one group who suffer are fans – they are at a loss now.

“It’s unthinkable. It was a piece of Soccer Saturday history – the first time Bury have not been involved in the show since it started in all those years.

“It’s sad. I feel really strongly – and it’s too far down the line with Bury now – that prevention is better than cure.

“Let’s learn from this situation. A wage cap in the lower divisions on a sliding scale is an answer – then you can’t be paying players five grand a week.

“At Pools we suffered from that with the wages we were paying players at times. A wage cap wouldn’t affect most players in the lower divisions, just those who the clubs can’t afford to pay anyway.

“And I feel that the club’s accounts should be monitored closely by the governing bodies, regularly and more often than each year.

“Let’s have a system with a huge bond – at Pools we had to pay one when we got started last year – but let’s have one big enough to stave off people coming in who have no interest in football and buying a club for a pound.

“There’s a lot of things which can be done, but it’s no use everyone throwing their hands up in horror until the next one comes along.

“It will happen again, and again. How many clubs are on the brink? Too many. Look at Bolton, they have just survived. Who is next?’’

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/jeffsmarchformen2019

https://prostatecanceruk.org/get-involved/march-for-men