Former Sheffield Wednesday player's 500-mile bike challenge 'for Dad'

Ritchie Humphreys says he wants to raise £23,000 so other families get the same level of support his dad did at St Luke's

A former Sheffield Wednesday player has set off on a 500-mile charity bike ride in memory of his father.

Ritchie Humphreys aims to cycle to each of the football grounds where his dad - a Sheffield United fan - saw the Blades win promotion in 1982, 1989 and 1990.

He hopes to raise £23,000 for St Luke's Hospice in Sheffield, where his father, John, was cared for before he died.

Mr Humphreys said staff at the hospice "didn't just look after my dad, they looked after the whole family".

He said his father was a life-long United fan and following his death at St Luke's it seemed appropriate that any fundraising scheme should have a Sheffield United theme.

Ritchie Humphreys also played with Scunthorpe, Cardiff, Cambridge, Hartlepool, Port Vale and Chesterfield

Mr Humphreys, who is now the Players' Union representative with the Professional Football Association, is undertaking the five-day challenge along with three friends.

The quartet started at Sheffield United before riding to St Luke's. Their journey is expected to take them to Wolverhampton, Leicester, back to Sheffield and then on to Darlington and Hartlepool.

To add extra United flavour to the adventure, they are all donning the kits the United players wore at each historic victory.

People gathered at St Luke's to see off Ritchie Humphreys as he began his 500-mile ride

Ritchie Humphreys is joined by friends for the five-day challenge

Mr Humphreys said: "Dad was in St Luke's for just five days but they were five days that meant so much to the family.

"It was a time when me and my mum and my sister could all be together with dad again and that was so important because it gave us all the chance to say the things we needed to say."

He said the idea for the bike challenge came to him "when it began to look like Sheffield United were going to get promoted this season".

"That's when the idea of visiting all the grounds where they had been promoted before started to take off."