Family time is skipper's priority

Lancaster City's skipper Neil Marshall has revealed that he is battling cancer and will retire from playing EVO-STIK Northern Premier League football at the end of the season.

The father of two, pictured collecting a glass trophy earlier this season to mark his 400th appearance and ten years of service to the Dolly Blues, has told officials and the First Division North club's fans that he wants to spend more time with his family after battling the disease on and off for the last five years since surgery to have a mole removed.

In an interview for his captain's column in the Lancaster Guardian, the 31-year-old said a new course of medication he could be on for years meant he would not be able to have further surgery on a troublesome groin injury.

A plumber by trade, the club stalwart said: “With the tablets I’ve got a gene that can be switched off. It’s just they don’t know for how long it will be switched off, it’s different for everybody.

“Some people it’s six to 12 months but the doctor also said she’s got a woman who has been on it for four years. It’s just depends on how it reacts.”

He added: “I don’t feel any different in myself. I don’t feel any pain when I’m playing, nothing. It’s not a physical thing I just want to spend more time with my kids.”

Image courtesy of www.lancasterguardian.co.uk

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