Ex-SAFC star who finished off Newcastle is getting on his bike for charity

Wayne Entwistle, a striker for the club between 1977 and 1979, is to cycle from his home in Bury, Lancashire to Carlisle, then all the way along Hadrian’s Wall.

The 200-mile pedal, ending on July 17, is to raise money for vital research into dementia and motor neurone disease.

The target figure is £2,000, but Wayne is hoping to surpass that figure to fight two conditions which affect millions. The money will be split equally between the two causes.

Wayne, now 62, now works in the construction industry and has five daughters. He keeps himself fit and is a keen cyclist.

He was persuaded to make the trek by Stuart Johnson, the very respected coach who discovered him and managed to secure a trial for Wayne at Bury FC. Bury offered him his first professional contract when he was a teenager. He moved from Bury to Sunderland.

Stuart has two old friends from his own playing days who are now very poorly. One is suffering from motor neurone disease, the other with dementia.

Others are making the journey along Hadrian’s wall by foot, but that will take nine days and Wayne didn’t have enough time. So he will catch up with the walkers by bike, ending his journey at Wallsend on July 17.

Wayne said: “I wasn’t able to walk it as I couldn’t take nine days off, so I’m going to cycle it with another lad, Matt Holt.

“We’ll cycle Bury to Carlisle, then meet up with the walkers along Hadrian’s Wall. I cycle 50-60 miles in a weekend anyway with my cycling club.

“It was Stuart Johnson who asked me to do it. I owe Stuart a lot so I said yes straightaway.”

Aged 20, Wayne scored the last goal of the game, finishing off Newcastle in an emphatic 4-1 win on February 24, 1979. Gary Rowell scored three. Wayne’s other highlights included a hat-trick of his own in a 5-0 win against Bristol Rovers at Roker Park in December 1978.

He was also an England youth international.

Any Sunderland supporter wishing to do the equivalent of buying Wayne a pint for scoring that goal against Newcastle, should visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/friends-through-football.

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