A CHARITY football tournament has raised more than £2,000 to help a former Bristol Rovers player diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.
More than 500 people came to Mangotsfield United’s Cossham Street ground on July 27 to watch teams made up of influencers from social media platforms such as TikTok, Twitch and YouTube take on a select local side in the NA16 Cup.
The event raised a total of £2,300 to support Nick Anderton, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma last year and retired from football in April after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy.
Among those taking part were YouTuber Danny Aarons, who has more than 1.4 million subscribers, goalkeeper Big John, who can be seen between the sticks on Sky TV’s Soccer AM, and Bristol Rovers content creator Charlie Hayne.
The event was organised by Jake Milsom, 16, a Rovers fan from Emersons Green who has been working for the club after finishing his GCSEs at Downend School, and his cousin Reece Flook, 21, from Kingswood. It was filmed by students from media college Boomsatsuma.
Jake said: “It went extremely well – everyone enjoyed themselves and we’ve had a lot of good responses.”