Local darts and dominoes league folds and plans to donate funds to ex-Doncaster Rovers star

The Balby Area Charity Friday Night League was formed 30 years ago with members taking each other on at games of darts and dominoes as well as raising cash for good causes.

But a lack of new members and teams has forced the group to fold and there are now plans to donate nearly £4,000 to ex-Rovers ace Tommy Spurr whose young son Rio is battling a rare form of cancer.

Treasurer Alan Waddington said the league had started with ten teams and added: “Over the years, we’ve helped both local and national good causes and charities.

"Unfortunately, following the pandemic only four teams remained able to field teams, with people not wishing to mix still in such close proximity making the league unfixable."

Tommy’s three-year-old son is battling a rare form of kidney cancer and a crowdfunding page, which aims to raise £100,000, has been set up HERE .

Rio, who has stage four cancer, has already had a large tumour on his right kidney removed – but the disease has spread to his lungs.

He’s been having chemotherapy at Manchester Children’s Hospital and will also need radiotherapy, but there is no guarantee he will survive.

Tommy said: "Rio has been through far too much already and a lot more to come but still he continues to smile and sing his way through this hideous disease.

“We don’t know where this journey will take us. If Rio is cured at the end of his NHS treatment and gets to ring the bell, there’s no promise he is cured for good.

“If his cancer comes back, Rio’s chance of survival will be around 10%.

"We won’t have many (if any) options for further treatment for Rio as he will already have had a lot of the strong chemotherapy drugs his body can take - plus radiotherapy.

"We pray to God this will never happen but if it does, our consultant explained that a pot of fundraising money is an excellent way of paying for further treatment available in other countries.”

Tommy played 65 games for Rovers between 2011 and 2013 before joining Blackburn Rovers.