A group of former Carlisle United team-mates are reuniting for a big charity walk in support of Joe Thompson.

Michael Raynes, Jason Kennedy, Luke Joyce and Dan Hanford will be joined by ex-boss Keith Curle for the 21-mile walk for fellow ex-Blue Thompson as he battles cancer for a third time.

The former Brunton Park colleagues will walk from Manchester United’s Old Trafford to Rochdale’s Crown Oil Arena, taking in a number of football grounds along the way.

It is all in support of former winger Thompson, with whom they played at Brunton Park in the 2015/16 season.

The 35-year-old is undergoing treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, the disease he revealed had returned earlier this year. Thompson previously fought the cancer in 2013 and 2017.

Raynes, Joyce, Kennedy, Hanford and Curle will embark on the 21-mile walk across Greater Manchester which starts at Thompson’s first club, Manchester United, and finishes at his last club Rochdale, with the walk taking in Salford City, Manchester City and Oldham Athletic along the way.

Other teams of former players representing different clubs will also take part in the walk, which is called ‘Walk With Me for JT’.

Former defender Raynes told the News & Star that they were keen to come together to show their support for such an admired friend and former team-mate.

Thompson is aiming to raise £20,000 through the walk, as part of a wider £250,000 fundraising bid to support pioneering cancer treatment.

Joe Thompson made 17 appearances for Carlisle in the 2015/16 seasonJoe Thompson made 17 appearances for Carlisle in the 2015/16 season (Image: Barbara Abbott) “The money he's trying to raise is not for himself – it's for cancer research, which just tells you about the kind of human JT is,” Raynes said.

“We want to support him as best we can. We’re doing the full walk although I think the gaffer [Curle] might substitute me and JK halfway through if we’re going too slow…

“I’m in contact every week with JT. What he’s going through is horrendous but he’s being as positive as he can be.

“He’s going to be at the start of the walk and I think he’s going to try and do a little bit of it.

“He’s one of the best humans I've ever met. So positive, does everything right, not just the way he lives in terms of football, but he lives his life.

“With what he and his family have gone through, it's unthinkable how he's still so strong and how he's still so positive – and how all he wants to do is help other people. He's one of the best I've ever met.”

Thompson joined Carlisle in the summer of 2015 and his goal early that season against Plymouth Argyle was his first after winning his first cancer fight.

He was part of a squad under Curle that embarked on a memorable and eventful season, which included runs to take on Liverpool and Everton in the League Cup and FA Cups, while they also experienced the Storm Desmond floods in December 2015.

“When I was putting some pictures together from JT’s time at Carlisle with all the lads, there were some of me, him and JK carrying stuff out of people’s flooded houses,” Raynes said.

“It got me a bit emotional. So much went on that season, didn’t it?

“It was his first full season after recovering from cancer the first time and the likes of me, JT, Joycey, JK, Chas [Wyke], Dan…we all lived up there together. I saw them more than my wife.

“Usually in football you only stay close to the people you’re successful with. That year, although we had the good cup runs, we fell short in the league. But everyone stays in touch. Everyone is really, really close, still.

“Everything that happened that year has kept those connections with Carlisle and will stay with us for the rest of our lives. It’s made a huge bond between us all.”

The walk is on Saturday, October 12. For more information on the walk click HERE, and to donate to Walk With Me for JT click HERE.