Football fans from across the country have been urged to come together to get behind a campaign to reunite former Swindon player Stephen Darby with some of his most prized footballing memorabilia.
The 34-year-old started his career at Liverpool and enjoyed loan spells with Swindon Town, Notts County and Rochdale before going on to join Bradford City on a permanent deal in 2012.
The right back, who is married to England international Steph Houghton, is a household name amongst Swindon fans, with his exploits in the 2010 League One play-off semi-final against Charlton Athletic still living long in the memory.
He netted the winning penalty in the shootout to send Town into the final against Millwall.
Sadly, Stephen was forced to hang up his boots after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2018, at the age of just 29.
When it came to light a private seller had put up Darby’s framed, match-worn, signed shirt from that memorable play-off semi-final victory over The Addicks for sale, The Sir Tom Broadbent Lounge - a Swindon Town podcast hosted on Twitter Spaces that works closely with the club - vowed to buy the shirt and return it to him.
But following lots of positive press around the campaign, the individual later donated the shirt to the cause.
Now, several of the Liverpudlian’s former sides are getting behind the initiative to source some of his other prized possessions from his career on the pitch, including boots and shirts.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up to raise money for the Darby-Rimmer MND Foundation, with all profits from this charity appeal going towards Stephen’s cause.
If you have a piece of memorabilia of Stephen’s, or anything Town related from his era, please get in contact @T_STBL on Twitter.
