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Can he kick it?

24/12/2001

HE MAY be football crazy ... even football mad, but keeping his eye on the ball has paid dividends for Ian Shears.

Ian, aged 36, a Manchester area manager for Oxfam, kicked a football all the way from Liverpool FC's ground in Anfield to Manchester United's headquarters at Old Trafford.

The marathon 35-mile kick about took place last Friday and raised over £6,000 for Oxfam projects overseas.

It also raised a cracking head cold for Ian - quite apart from sore feet.

Ian, who hails from Whitefield, started from Liverpool just after 7.30am, kicking his ball along city streets and then following the East Lancs Road through Salford.

Local radio followed his progress and as a result he got a lot of passing motorists hooting their horns in encouragement.

Ian told us: "It was quite an experience and my feet are only just now recovering.

"I had trained hard for the event - but wasn't prepared for the stinker of a cold I woke up with on Saturday morning!"

Ian stopped off along the way for a breather at Swinton Parade's Oxfam shop where he caught up with sponsors who included Ezee Copy, of St Helens, Vodafone and Carlsberg.