WITH the Premier League season kicking off last weekend, four football fans decided they would take in the sites of the capital’s stadiums beforehand.

In a bid to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK, Darren Butler, Scott Barron, Paul O’Donoghue and Jamie Scully decided to mark the first London derby of the season by walking between the two stadiums of the competing sides.

The quartet set out to walk from Crystal Place’s Selhurst Park to Craven Cottage the home of Fulham. However, with the group containing a Chelsea fan and an Arsenal fan, their expedition spread and so they decided to visit all of the Premier League grounds in the capital.

Setting off at 6.15am on Saturday, the four friends began their 36-mile walk at Selhurst Park, taking in White Hart Lane, London City Stadium, the Emirates Stadium, Stamford Bridge and finally Craven Cottage.

Darren, who lives in Oakridge, told the Gazette: “We majorly underestimated how painful it was going to be, but we wanted to enjoy the whole experience.

“By the time we got to the Emirates Stadium our legs were starting to feel like jelly and our bodies were starting to give up and feel like deadweight.

“But when we reached Stamford Bridge there was a sense of relief as we knew we were so close to the end and we had done the hardest part of the walk.”

In total the walk took more than 12 hours before the foursome reached their final destination.

The inspiration for the walk came from Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling who is a big supporter of the March for Men campaign which raises money for Prostate Cancer UK.

All the money raised by the group, who so far have gathered £1,237, will go towards supporting Prostate Cancer UK’s aim to continue to focus on radical improvements in diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

To find out more about the charity, go to prostatecanceruk.org.