'Brilliant' Leeds United food truck gesture and 100-mile round trip for fans

Maggie and Nick Powell know from personal experience how difficult the walks can be. This is the third edition after The Square Ball introduced the idea in 2022 with a 92-mile walk from Speed's North Wales home back to Elland Road. The second walk plotted another 92-mile route, this time from Everton's Goodison Park to LS11. And this week the walkers will journey 120 miles from Newcastle United's St James' Park, returning to a Leeds United-sponsored welcome reception at Elland Road on Friday.

READ: Brutal day three takes its toll as trio detail difficulty and beauty of Gary Speed Walk

Day three takes the walkers past the halfway point but it involves a 28-mile trek from Scotch Corner to Thirsk. Injuries have taken a toll and forced a couple of walkers to abandon in hope of being able to participate again on day five.

So the appearance of familiar faces and a banquet went down a treat with those slogging their way in Wednesday's heat towards their destination. The Powells drove their Street Food Taco Truck to Morton-on-Swale Village Hall and parked up to welcome the walkers having previously counted themselves among the group. Nick walked in 2022 and Maggie joined him the following year, but injury ruled Nick out this year.

Dan Moylan of The Square Ball told the YEP: "The pair of them wanted to contribute by feeding the walkers on the longest day of the whole event - 28 miles. We're really grateful for their support, the walkers really appreciated the pick-me-up and they put on a brilliant spread, including rice, chips, meat and veg burritos with all the fillings, yogurts, home baked brownies and cake and water, all inside a quaint little village hall in North Yorkshire.

"Maggie and Nick are in a 100-strong WhatsApp group that was created for the first walk in 2022 and the non-walkers are still in there offering support."

Maggie said they simply wanted to contribute having not been able to do the walking themselves this time. She told the YEP: "We're absolutely gutted that we couldn't be on the walk this year. It's a credit to everybody who has taken on this endeavor. Five days of walking, 120 miles from Newcastle to Leeds. We wanted to do a bit, we wanted to see the guys, to say hello and bring some enthusiasm to it. And we thought the best way to contribute was to bring food. So, we've got an array of food from chilli to chicken, and blueberries and bananas and everything in between. And some homemade cake. We couldn't wait to see the guys, were waiting for them to come and want to cheer them on because it's a great cause, and we love it."

The walk is to raise funds and awareness for men's mental health charity Andy's Man Club, with a goal of £50,000 set prior to the walk this week. For information and to donate visit www.garyspeedwalk.com