Fifth annual football match to take place for 27-year-old South Shields dad who died from cancer

Those closest to Michael Hall are set to come together to honour his memory with the fifth annual football match in his name on Saturday, August 3.

The 27-year-old dad, from The Nook in South Shields, tragically passed away from testicular cancer in 2019 just two weeks before the birth of his daughter.

Michael was in the rare 10% of cancer patients who showed no symptoms of the disease before it claimed his life.

He had mentioned back pain and a bout of sickness a few days earlier but displayed no symptoms on the day that he collapsed at home before he was admitted to hospital with a pulmonary embolism.

Only a day later, Michael’s family made the heart breaking decision to turn off his life support machine.

However, to keep his memory alive, Michael’s family and friends set up the Michael Hall Foundation - a charity dedicated to raising awareness for testicular cancer and funding research in his name.

The annual football match sees both teams play as Sunderland and Newcastle - honouring Michael’s love for the Toon.

Jordan Maloy, a friend of Michael’s, has been involved in arranging the football match since its inception and is now looking ahead to the fifth annual event.

He said: “The fact that five years on since we started doing this and we’ve still got around 40 people wanting to play in the match just shows how loved Michael was.

“After all this time, people are still really happy to play in the match and Harton Welfare Club give us the venue for free, which means that we can continue to host it.

“With the cost of living crisis still going on, we’ve scaled back some of our events throughout the year but the fundraising for the match is going well.

Stay up to date with the Shields Gazette’s latest headlines and get a newsletter delivered to your inbox

“We’re hoping to raise around £1,000, which should then take us to a total of £6,000 raised since we started the Michael Hall Foundation.

“As well as the fundraising, the day is all about raising awareness about testicular cancer as Michael didn’t know that he had it when he passed away.”

The event starts from 12pm at Harton Welfare Club, on Low Lane, with the football match kicking off at 1pm.

As well as the football match, there will be entertainment for children including a bouncy castle and a number of market stalls offering a variety of goods.

You can find out more about the Michael Hall Foundation by visiting: https://www.facebook.com/MHFoundation27.