Footballers from yesteryear are coming together for a fundraising match on Sunday.

VCD Athletic Old Boys will play Phoenix Sports Old Boys to raise money for Joe Ford and sepsis awareness.

Former SC Thamesmead manager Ford has had his lower right leg amputated after being struck down by sepsis in March.

Monies raised will help him adjust to his life-changing illness. Ford runs a football coaching school, JMF Coaching, but was put in a nine-day induced coma after collapsing six months ago and given just a 10 per cent chance of pulling through.

He is currently recuperating in a rehabilitation centre in Lambeth and has just started to learn to walk with a prosthetic leg.

One of the organisers behind the game, which will be followed by an auction and raffle, Dean Frost said: “It’s going to be a long road to recovery for Joe so that’s why we’ve all come together to show him our support.

“He has battled his way through already and it shows you how strong he is.”

Joe father’s Martin is well known in north Kent football circles having managed VCD from 1993 to 2007 before later working alongside Joe at both Erith & Belvedere and Erith Town.

The game takes place at VCD’s Oakwood ground (DA1 4DN) with a 3pm kick-off on Sunday. The raffle and auction which includes memorabilia from Arsenal, Millwall and Charlton will follow the game.

A just giving page has raised more than £6,000 for Joe.

Read more: All the latest sports news in Kent