Erith Town have announced that their pre-season friendly with Phoenix Sports will be free to attend but that they will be accepting donations for the Joe Ford fund.

Ford, who runs his own football coaching set-up, was taken ill whilst preparing for Sporting Club Thamesmead’s fixture with Rochester United in March, and was rushed to hospital.

His father Martin, also a football manager, announced on Twitter that his son had sepsis and acute leukemia, and he has been fighting the illness in hospital for the last three months.

Sevenoaks Town manager Micky Collins has started an internet fund raising page to support Ford and his family.

The link is: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kqa8ve-team-joe