Football fanatic Steve Burkey is banking on his beloved Chatham Town netting a bonanza of goals this season.

He is donating a fiver to charity for every ball in the net and hopes to beat the £500-plus he notched up last year.

The London Underground engineer is raising money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, which supported the wife of former manager Scott Lindsey who lost her battle with the illness.

Hayley passed away during Lindsey's 22-month stint as boss.

Steve fell in love with the club after going to his first match in 2015 after moving from Chester for a new job in the capital.

He ditched his boyhood team of Everton for the non-league side whose home ground is in Bourneville Avenue.

Steve, who lives in Luton High Street, said: "Basically I'm a northern, working-class lad, I don't like how the big clubs have become so money-orientated. There's no pizazz any more."

Since he started supporting them, he has only missed a handful of games both home and away.

He recalls one "crazy" weekend when he travelled to Prague to watch England play the Czech Republic on the Friday night, returned early Saturday to catch The Chats' game and then flew to Bulgaria to see the Three Lions take on the home country side on the Monday.

He adopted the non-league club because he "was so impressed with the community spirit. It's like being part of a family both on and off the pitch".

It won the national Community Club of the Year award for its programme of activities and efforts to help vulnerable people during lockdown.

Members and volunteers called to check on fans' wellbeing, delivered food parcels, ran errands and held fitness classes and mental health workshops.

At the time, Kevin Hake, chairman of the Southern Counties East Premier Division side, said he was "blown away" with the recognition.

He said: "It's a fantastic honour and it's a testament to everyone involved at the club who have tried to help people in these troubled times.

"On the pitch we want to climb up the leagues, but what we do off the pitch gives me equal pleasure as winning three points. We're not just concentrating on our football supporters,we're focusing on the wider community."

Lindsey left last month to work as a coach at Swindon Town after just under two years with Chatham.

Despite suffering the heartache of losing his wife during his time as boss, he continued in his role saying at the time: "It took my mind away from things, even if it was for only 90 minutes and I could get my teeth into something else – football is great for that."

Read more: All the latest news from Medway