A group of Ely footballers have helped to raise £8,922 for one of their teammates who has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer.

Friends of Toby Dawson, who is a father of three and has played for Ely City Football Club throughout his career, are aiming to raise £10,000 for him and his family.

Lee Pacey, who played with Toby at Ely City FC for several years and set up the JustGiving page, said: "Toby is one of my good mates. We found out he has stage four cancer on October 1 so myself and a few others are trying to raise funds for him and his family as he has had to give up his self-employed job as a steel erector.

"Toby is a big face amongst the football community having played for a number of clubs at a few levels. We are just trying to highlight what he is going through.

"The football community is really coming together to support Toby with a number of events lined up over the coming weeks and months.

"This support speaks volumes about his character and who he is as a person - born fighter, born winner.

"All donations will go to Toby and his family to help them as much as possible during this awful time.

"Toby is remaining positive while fighting as hard as he can for his family and he appreciates all the love and support he has received so far."

The fist fundraising event that has been organised is a charity football match at Haverhill Rovers FC on November 29 where a Sawston United veteran team will play against a Haverhill Legends team at Haverhill football club, Chalk Stone Way, CB9 0AW.

Kick off is at 19:30 and we hope as many people as possible will attend to show their support for Toby.

The football match is free entry and there will be a collection bucket going round that we hope people will kindly donate as much as they possibly can.

There will also be a raffle with some great prizes to be won, all donated by his friends and local businesses.

To donate to the fundraising page visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tobydawson?utm_term=QagnagN5A