Club's kitman completes 82-mile journey for game

AFC Telford's kitman Tom Mansell has finished an epic journey of walking with the team's kit to Southport FC.

Alongside Kyran Purohit, from the AFC Telford United Foundation, the pair set off at 04:00 BST on Wednesday and arrived ahead of their match at 12:30 BST on Saturday.

They have walked more than 80 miles, raising money for Alder Hey Children's Hospital and Prostate Cancer UK.

The club, who went on to lose 2-0 against Southport in their last game of the season, posted congratulations on social media upon their arrival saying they had "smashed their charity fundraising targets".

Speaking ahead of the challenge, Mansell said he "thought it was a great opportunity to do a good thing" and the pair chose two charities which meant something to them.

The kit for the National League North team included footballs, medical equipment and video recording equipment and was packed in bags and two metal containers on wheels.

After their 04:00 BST departure, the friends had planned to take 14 hours to walk to Nantwich, then 11 hours on Thursday to get to Widnes and another nine on Friday to Ormskirk.

They were hoping for a well-deserved burger and drink once they arrived at Southport and had set things up for the match.

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