Venables launches fantasy football competition in aid of male cancers
Former England manager Terry Venables is today supporting male cancer charity Everyman by fronting a competition which calls on football fans to decide their all-time England top XI, starting with Gordon Banks in goal. Well-known football faces including Jimmy Bullard and Kevin Davies have already submitted their choices which are available to view on www.keepyoureyeontheball.org.
The fundraiser is being launched as part of Everyman’s ‘Keep Your Eye On The Ball’ initiative which is celebrating ten years since its 2000 inauguration. It was created in partnership with The Football Association and Professional Footballers’ Association to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancers within the football community.
Venables, who joins a long list of football icons including Teddy Sheringham, Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch to support the campaign, will have to remain tight-lipped on his own selection until the competition closes on 1 June. Participants who submit the same team as Venables will be entered into a draw to win a retro England goalie shirt signed by Gordon Banks and a private Wembley stadium tour for their top XI friends.
“Every football supporter across the country has debated and argued over who would make the greatest England XI of all time. This competition gives fans the opportunity to get their opinion heard while also raising money for a vital cause,” commented Venables. “It’s a fantastic way to mark ten years of ‘Keep Your Eye On The Ball’ which is doing a remarkable job highlighting important health issues in a way that will actually make men take note.”
The website will be updated regularly with the top XI teams of high profile football supporters. Current top XI teams on the website include those of Everyman ambassadors Neil Harris and his Millwall team-mates; Matt Duke and Jimmy Bullard from Hull City, Kevin Davies of Bolton and Manchester City legend Dennis Tueart.
The money raised from the competition will go directly into funding research at the charity’s Everyman Centre - Europe's first and only centre dedicated to male cancer research and part of The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).
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To request an interview or further information or images, please contact Tatjana Trposka on 020 7153 5312, 077806 89891 or email: Tatjana.Trposka@icr.ac.uk.
Notes to editors
To enter the competition fans simply visit www.keepyoureyeontheball.org, pay £2 and pick their fantasy team from players in the 1966 squad up until the present day. They can pick any 10 outfield players with the only automatic choice being England legend Gordon Banks in goal.
To find out more about Everyman and testicular and prostate cancer research visit: www.everyman-campaign.org.uk
Keep Your Eye On The Ball was set-up by The FA, PFA and Everyman in 2000 in response to several high profile players being diagnosed with testicular cancer. The aim is to raise awareness of testicular and prostate cancer within the football community.
Everyman is the UK’s leading male cancer campaign which raises awareness and funds for research into testicular and prostate cancer. Everyman is focussed on improving the survival rate of men with testicular cancer by raising awareness about the early symptoms. Its scientists have also led groundbreaking research into new treatments for prostate cancer. The Everyman Centre is located within Europe’s leading cancer organisation, The Institute of Cancer Research.
Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in men aged between 15 and 44, with about 2,000 cases a year in the UK. Incidence is increasing dramatically – by almost 4-fold in the last 50 years – but thanks to advances made at the Everyman Centre, testicular cancer is now 99 per cent curable if caught early, and with treatment the overall cure rate is 97 per cent.
Prostate cancer has overtaken lung cancer to become the most common cancer in men affecting almost 35,000 men every year in the UK. One man dies of prostate cancer in the UK every hour, a total of 10,000 men per year.