Jay Spearing and Blackpool teammates scale Pleasure Beach's 'Big One' rollercoaster in support of Stephen Darby

The Pool skipper was nominated by former boss Gary Bowyer to take on the "Distance for Darbs" challenge, which is rapidly gaining pace on social media.

Spearing, Mark Howard and others videoed themselves climbing on board the famous ride, where they sang the “Stephen Darby baby” chant to the tune of The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me Baby”.

Darby, who is married to England Women's star Steph Houghton, came through the youth ranks at Liverpool alongside Spearing.

Spearing subsequently nominated Jon Flanagan, Jason McAteer and Martin Kelly to take on the challenge.

Darby, a former Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers player, as well as a close friend of Spearing, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease last September.

The defender was forced to retire, but in keeping with his character thought how he could turn the ordeal into a positive and help others.

Darby set up The Darby Rimmer MND Foundation and several fundraising efforts have been undertaken since the charity's inception.

Members of staff at both Bolton and Bradford are now readying themselves for a 65-mile walk across three days (July 26-28) to raise funds for the foundation.

At the time of writing, £1,480 had been donated towards the fundraising target of £2,500.

To find out more information about the "Distance for Darbs" Challenge and to donate, go to: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/distance-for-darbs-fundraiser