Former Aston Villa and Celtic star Stiliyan Petrov joined a young Staplehurst man in remembering his beloved mum, a year on from her death, at a charity football match.

Tania Mackelden, died in February 2017, aged 48, after cancer spread to her liver, rib cage, bone marrow, spine, and brain, and her battle inspired her teenage son, Tom, to organise a match at Maidstone’s Gallagher Stadium last year, where more than 800 people turned out in support and to raise crucial money for Cancer Research UK.

A year on and Mr Mackelden, now 20, has raised some £22,000 for the charity, after holding another match to mark her anniversary on Friday night Feb 16, with 584 fans offering their support from the stands.

He said: "It was a completely different dynamic. Last year I was in this bubble where I hadn't slept, and my mum dying a few days before sort of took the stress away from the football, so coming into the night I wasn't nervous or stressed, I had the mindset of 'what will be, will be, if people come they do'.

"This year there was a lot more planning in the months before and it was literally all I was thinking about. I was stressing that it wouldn't be as good as last year, no one would turn up, that sort of thing.

"I was a bit of a wreck going into it but by the time it all got going and I realised people had come and everything I was going to plan I chilled out and relaxed and enjoyed it."

The appearance of Petrov, whose professional career was brought to a premature end after being diagnosed with acute leukaemia, helped make an emotional evening even more special, Mr Mackelden said.

"He was brilliant, he had pictures with people, he was one of the nicest, down-to-earth ex-professionals I've ever met, and I've met a fair few.

"He was really easy to talk to and you could tell he really wanted to be there, he wasn't just there because he felt he had to."