Last four are lining up for charity

12 Apr 2018 By David Watters

Integro League Cup hopefuls Atherton Collieries, Coalville Town, Hednesford Town and South Shields are getting ready to kick off for charity tonight (Thursday) in the semi-finals of the Northern Premier League's showpiece cup competition.

After a season of support from the EVO-STIK League's clubs for the Daniel Wilkinson Foundation since the preliminary round back in September, Hednesford Town and South Shields will both be running adverts and flyers in the matchday programmes of their last four ties with Atherton Collieries and Coalville Town respectively.

The Daniel Wilkinson Foundation was founded by the family and friends of the late Shaw Lane defender, pictured, to raise funds in his name to stop others dying of undetected heart conditions following his tragic death at the age of 24 after collapsing on the pitch during an Integro League Cup clash at Brighouse Town in September 2016.

A former Hull City youth team star, who also turned out for North Ferriby United, Scarborough Athletic, Harrogate Town, Goole Town and Rushall Olympic, Dan passed away in September 2016 after collapsing on the pitch just under an hour into his side's cup clash and despite the best efforts of medics from both clubs and the emergency services to treat him using Town's own stadium defibrillator and administering CPR.

League loss: The late Dan Wilkinson

The defender was later found to have the same disease that caused former Bolton star Fabrice Muamba to retire from football in 2012 after collapsing during an FA Cup tie at Spurs. That incident prompted the Football Association to team up with the British Heart Foundation to subsidise the cost of defibrillators for more than 900 clubs at Steps 1 to 5 following lobbying from a number of competitions including the EVO-STIK League.

The FA announced before the start of the NPL's historic 50th anniversary season that the initiative was being relaunched following its previous success when more than half the clubs in the EVO-STIK League alone took advantage of the subsidy to purchase the life-saving equipment and recieve training.

Find out more about The Daniel Wilkinson Foundation via the charity's social media channels and website: Twitter, @dannywilks5; Facebook, thedanielwilkinsonfoundation; Instagram, dwfoundation5; website, thedanielwilkinsonfoundation.org and via email at: contact@ thedanielwilkinsonfoundation.org. To donate, visit: http://mydonate.bt.com/charities/thedanielwilkinsonfoundation

Images courtesy of Shaw Lane & Brighouse Town

Follow us: @evostikleague on Twitter | Facebook www.facebook.com/evostikleague

Mission: The latest poster advertising the foundation's aims

Where next?

Socials following semi-final action! Stay in touch with the news from the semi-finals of the Integro League Cup on Thursday with the EVO-STIK League's social media channels and log on for live commentary from Whitby Town versus Warrington in the top flight!

Wednesday's South Division action review Stamford AFC moved five points clear of seventh-placed Leek Town in the race for a play-off place in the EVO-STIK League South after sharing a 1-1 draw with neighbours Corby Town at Steel Park on Wednesday night, writes Pitchero's Steve Whitney.