Emlyn Hughes OBE, the former captain of England and Liverpool FC, will be remembered in a fundraiser to mark the 15^th anniversary of his diagnosis with a brain tumour.

His son, Emlyn Junior, is teaming up with a group of friends to take on the Yorkshire Three Peaks walking challenge in the celebrated player’s memory.

The footballing great, who was one of Britain’s most famous and inspirational sportsmen, was diagnosed with a brain tumour and underwent surgery in August 2003 and subsequently underwent radiotherapy. A second operation left him with permanent damage to his left side and he passed away at his home in Sheffield in November 2004 at the age of 57.

Emlyn Junior was 28 when his dad died. He recalled: “Dad never complained and the only talk was of how he was going to beat the odds. By the end he was still trying to be his normal positive self and one of the last things he said to me was ‘we’ll have a game of golf next week’. It was plain for anyone to see that it was never going to happen but that’s just how he was.

“The greatest thing my dad ever gave me was his name. When I introduce myself people always say ‘like the footballer?’ and I am always proud to say ‘yeah, he was my dad’.”

Dubbed the Crazy Horse because of the way he charged around the football field, Emlyn won two European Cups, an FA Cup, five championships, and was Footballer of the Year. He made his final appearance for England in 1980, the last of 62 appearances for his country with 23 as captain.

After retiring from the game he carved out a successful career in broadcasting and his distinctive high-pitched voice and sense of humour endeared him to a generation of viewers on the BBC’s A Question of Sport. He famously broke royal protocol to hug HRH Princess Anne when, as a guest on the show, she answered a question correctly. Just weeks earlier he had caused hilarity by failing to identify a photo of the princess, mistaking her for a male race jockey.

Emlyn Junior, 42, who is married with two sons and lives in Derbyshire, said: “Dad’s diagnosis with a grade four glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) came as a terrible blow to us all and I wanted to take on a challenge to raise money in his memory and to acknowledge how dreadful this disease is and to do something positive to help others who are affected.”

On 28^th July together with a group of friends, Emlyn Junior will set off to tackle Yorkshire’s highest three peaks. He’s dubbed the event the “Dynamo Kebab” challenge to highlight the fact that he’s not as fit as he might be!

Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age. What’s more, they kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.

To make a donation to the Dynamo Kebab challenge in memory of Emlyn please go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/e-hughes3

Photographed left to right are: Dean Robinson, David Eaton, Emlyn Hughes, Stephen Seddon, Ian Crutchley, Paul Welsh.


For further information, please contact:
Susan Castle-Smith at Brain Tumour Research on 01908 867206 or 07887 241639 or Susan@braintumourresearch.org


Notes to Editors

Brain Tumour Research is the only national charity in the UK focused on funding sustainable research to find a cure for brain tumours. We have established a game-changing network of world-class Research Centres of Excellence in the UK. Embracing passionate member charities nationwide, over £6 million was raised towards research and support during 2017.

We are campaigning to see the national spend on research into brain tumours increased to £30 - £35 million a year, in line with breast cancer and leukaemia. The unprecedented success of our 2015 petition led to the 2016 Westminster Hall debate and Brain Tumour Research taking a leading role in the Government’s Task and Finish Working Group convened to tackle the historic underfunding for research with the report being published in 2018.

Key statistics on brain tumours: 

• Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer
• They kill more children than leukaemia
• They kill more men under 45 than prostate cancer
• They kill more women under 35 than breast cancer
• Just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease
• In the UK 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour
• Less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all cancers
• Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age
• Incidences of, and deaths from, brain tumours are increasing.

Please quote Brain Tumour Research as the source when using this information. Additional facts and statistics are available from our website including our latest Report on National Research Funding. We can also provide case-studies and research expertise for media.