Crystal Palace supporters have the chance to support Cure Leukaemia, a nation-wide blood cancer charity which saved the life of former captain Geoff Thomas, while owning an exclusive piece of Palace memorabilia.
Fans can now bid to win a signed matchworn shirt from Palace’s fixture away at Aston Villa on Saturday.
Proceeds raised will go towards Cure Leukaemia, a nation-wide blood cancer charity providing patients with access to new, potentially lifesaving treatments by facilitating clinical trials.
The charity’s patron, Geoff Thomas MBE, is an iconic former Crystal Palace club captain – and this September marks Blood Cancer Awareness Month.
Thomas received his MBE last year for his charitable work raising millions for Cure Leukaemia, a charity which aided his recovery following his own diagnosis with blood cancer. The 59-year-old rode the Tour de France for a sixth time – a distance of over 10,000 miles – and has raised millions of pounds for the charity in the process.
In 2021, the club were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of loyal supporter Geoff Hill from the disease.
“The game has been touched many times by blood cancer with myself, Carl Ikeme, Stiliyan Petrov, Sol Bamba and many more affected over recent years. Football has the power to beat blood cancer and Crystal Palace are leading the way,” Thomas told cpfc.co.uk.
“We believe we can eradicate this without people having to go through the pain, or having a family friend or a family member of themselves [affected]. We’d like to be doing the job without so many more people being touched by this illness.”
Through MatchWornShirt, fans can bid on the white away kits (and green goalkeeper kits) worn by or issued to every player in the Crystal Palace squad on Saturday (16th September).
Alternatively, you can bid on a shirt signed by the entire squad for the ultimate collector's item.
The bidding for these shirts, which come signed and in the condition they were at full-time, will last for a limited time only, running until 14:00 BST on Saturday 23rd September.
Every September, Blood Cancer Awareness Month helps to raise awareness and understanding of blood cancers. Leukaemia doesn’t discriminate. It affects people of all ages with one person diagnosed with a form of blood cancer every 14 minutes – that’s over 37,000 every year.
