Young Luton footballer raises 10 times his £100 target for cancer research

Ten-year-old Luton footballer Alfie Maguire who has raised more than £1,000 after taking part in the Bobby Moore Fund Keepy Uppy Challenge

He raised the cash with a keepy uppy challenge

A talented young footballer who plays for two local teams has raised a whopping £1,120 after taking part in November’s The Bobby Moore Fund Keepy Uppy Challenge.

Versatile midfielder Alfie Maguire plays for Luton Celtic Youth U12s on Saturday and Houghton Athletic Under11s on Sundays.

When the 10-year-old Offley Endowed Primary School pupil decided to take part in the challenge in aid of bowel cancer, he set his heart on raising £100.

By the end of the month he’d managed to collect a whopping £1,120 – and upped his personal best from 24 in a row to 84.

He told the Luton News: “I’m really proud of myself. Sometimes I found it difficult not to be disappointed by my daily totals – but that just made me try harder the next day.”

Alfie has been football mad since he was five. An avid Hatters fan, his heroes are Harry Cornick, Henri Lansbury and Christiano Ronaldo.

Mum Kirsty, a midwife in the private sector, said she and her electrical surveyor partner Chris were ‘incredibly proud’ of their son’s achievement.

She added: “Not only his confidence and resilience in taking on the challenge, but also the way he completed it with such passion and commitment – even on dark evenings and when he had to battle with rain.

“We loved seeing how pleased he was with himself each time he managed to beat his previous personal best – and he managed a massive 12,372 Keepy Uppys in total.

“He feels the challenge has improved his technique immensely, in spite of feeling frustrated when he was unable to beat his personal best, or was tired from school or football training.

“That’s when we’d talk about why he was doing the challenge and who his sponsorship money might help.

“We have lost some family and friends to cancer, as well as having some who have battled the disease and survived.”

Alfie, who has two older sisters – Bethany, 19, and Lola, 16 – as well as four-year-old brother Finley, so enjoyed his Keepy Uppy experience that he’s keen to take on another challenge.

Watch this space!