Fundraising football match for disabled Leeds boy on TV Harrison ground was sentimental journey

Sunday afternoon's (March 8) match at the field on Oldfield Lane at Wortley was a sentimental occasion as some veteran players ran out on to the pitch they hadn't played on since they were boys.

The match was well-supported as dozens of spectators turned out to watch a TV Harrison FC team will play an Armley CCFC side.

Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips and Burley Banksy support match to help severely disabled boy

It raised more than £1,000 towards a fund to buy an all terrain buggy for eight-year-old Oliver Rooney of Bramley.

Oliver was born with genetic condition Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome and has epilepsy, learning difficulties and cannot walk far.

Oliver's mum Eizabeth McOmish-Rooney, 46, wants to raise £3,000 to buy an all terrain buggy so Oliver can join in with more family activities with his twin brother Jak and three older brothers Thomas, nine, Joseph, 11 and Samuel, 12.

The football field on Oldfield Lane, Wortley, has been officially closed since 2003 and faces an uncertain future, with plans to build 50 houses on the site well underway.

A handful of volunteers spent months clearing overgrown grass and shrubbery to get it back to a playable standard for the charity fixture.

The match was followed by a charity raffle, with prizes including a Burley Banksy canvas, a Wortley FC shirt signed by Leeds United star and Wortley FC old boy Kalvin Phillips

Arron Lambert, 48, played on the TV Harrison team in the charity match.

Mr Lambert, the owner of Pet Lodge Superstore on Oldfield Lane, used to play on the pitch as a youngster and won 12 trophies while playing their for Leeds City Boys.

Mr Lambert said: "It was a huge turn out.

"It was the first football match on the TV Harrison ground for about 18 years so it was a big moment for the community.

"I used to play there as a child and it was my first match in 22 years so it was very sentimental.

"We started working on the ground about a year ago when it was just wasteland so to have it fit for us to play a football match on is just amazing.

"Everyone was just so happy that we were there and it was a great day.

"The amount of people who turned out to support us was amazing. It was more than we could hope for.

"It was great to see at least 50 kids running around the pitch at half time having a kick about. That's why we do what we do."

Another TV Harison team player John Fryer, 63, said: "The last time I played there I was 11-years-old playing for Greenhill County Primary School in Bramley in 1968.

"It brought back some memories. It was a great atmosphere."

Mrs McOmish-Rooney and ten friends and children will be taking part in a sponsored five-mile walk in and around Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales on March 28 to raise money for the JustGiving appeal to buy to Oliver an all terrain buggy.