AN OLD Basing man is on the road to Wembley as part of a charity campaign to beat prostate cancer.

On Sunday, John O’Brien, with 13 friends and family and hundreds of other football fans, will walk one of four routes to the home of English football to help Prostate Cancer UK, the leading charity against a disease that kills one man every 45 minutes.

Spurs fan John, 59, who has beaten prostate cancer and has taken on the charity’s Football to Amsterdam cycling event twice, including in June this year, is now taking on the March for Men walking programme.

The four marathon marches will see legions of walkers setting off on the road to the iconic stadium, starting out from West Ham United, Millwall, St Albans City and Sutton United.

The march to the arch will take in 15 clubs from the footballing pyramid and create a finale in which national World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst and England legend Ray Clemence will hand out medals to the participants.

John said: “I decided to sign up for the Football March for Men because having been diagnosed with and successfully treated for prostate cancer I know how important early awareness and diagnosis is to achieve a successful outcome. I shall be marching with my son Sam and thirteen of our friends.

“Prostate cancer is a totally indiscriminate disease, it doesn’t care if we’re Tottenham fans, Arsenal fans, Chelsea fans, West Ham fans, so we’ve got to come together to fight it.”

“It’s very important to me that Tottenham play a role in this. They’re my club, they’re an important part of my life. It’s so important to raise awareness and communicate amongst men and I want my team to be a part of that.”

John’s route will start at the London Stadium, before going to Leyton Orient and then on to Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. Spurs fans will get a glimpse of the club’s new-look White Hart Lane before heading back to Wembley.

James Beeby, director of fundraising at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “We’re delighted that John will be taking part in the march, raising vital funds for Prostate Cancer UK. “Our amazing cast of walkers from across the UK show a brilliant demonstration of Men United: people joining one team to fight a common opposition – prostate cancer. “For the first time, the number of men dying from prostate cancer every year has overtaken the number of women dying from breast cancer, making prostate cancer the third biggest cancer killer in the UK. “One man dies every 45 minutes from prostate cancer, which is simply unacceptable. We need to turn the game around for men and make prostate cancer a disease that the next generation of men do not fear. We thank John and his family and friends for joining the fight and wish them every success in the Football March for Men.”

To find out more go to prostatecanceruk.org/footballmarch and to sponsor John go to justgiving.com/fundraising/fundraising-johnpeterobrien.