Christmas anthem returns as charity hit!

Stocksbridge Park Steel star Anthony Tansley has teamed up with Borrowash Victoria’s players to record a new version of Band Aid’s famous Christmas anthem to help stop more young players from collapsing and dying with undiagnosed heart conditions.

Their rendition of ‘Do They know It’s Christmas’ has already raised more than £2000 for the medical charity Cry - Cardiac Arrest in the Young – after becoming an instant hit on Youtube this week with more than 1,000 hits within days.

The singing stars, pictured on the cover of their festive DVD, got together to honour their former teammate and friend Joe Kellogg who collapsed suddenly and died after never regaining consciousness while training with the East Midlands Counties League Vics in July 2011.

Doubting their vocal talents after coming together as 'No Direction', they'd only set an original fundraising target of a couple of hundred pounds. But publicity for their 2012 version of Bob Geldof and Midge Ure's 1984 classic is taking off in the media across the Midlands and they're hoping the funds will keep flooding in!

Their former teammate, who was 26 at the time and a club cricketer too - is the brother of Mickleover Sports’ Thom Kellogg and Sam Kellogg who still plays for Borrowash. His family are well-known for their sporting achievements.

Sister Donna, 33, played badminton in three successive Olympic Games, winning 88 England caps, 11 national titles, three Commonwealth gold medals and three European titles. Their father Neil is a former player and manager with Borrowash Victoria.

After raising funds previously for Cry to help others avoid their friend's fate, Tansley revealed they'd decided to do something special for Christmas with the recovery of Premier League star Fabrice Muamba still grabbing the nation’s attention after his collapse and near death from a heart condition while playing for Bolton at Spurs in March.

The Steels’ 2011 'Supporters Player of the Year' and former Sheffield United star said: "We started out only hoping to raise £200 to help produce the DVDs but things have really taken off and we’ve now passed the £2000 mark.

"The Fabrice Muamba incident really put the dangers to young players in the spotlight again and we hope our effort will go some way to helping see all young players screened so future tragedies can be avoided. It's been great fun and hopefully it will do some good and keep the campaign going for research and screening."

To make a donations a fundraising page the group have set up visit - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/derbybandaid. To view the video version visit: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4C5Hz232B0

* In October Buxton became the latest Evo-Stik Northern Premier League outfit to back a league wide campaign promoting the use of life-saving defribrillators launched in the wake of Muamba’s collapse and near death. The Bucks were presented with their defibrillator by donors from the Westfield Heath Trust after the club asked if the medial charity could help.

Farsley and Chasetown purchased the life-saving equipment at the start of the season and Warrington Town are currently leading fundraising efforts by other Evo-Stik NPL clubs after Non-League was alerted to their critical importance following their role in saving Muamba’s life.