Acorns Hospice: Charity duo cycle to all Premier League grounds

Two friends have cycled to all 20 Premier League stadiums in England to raise money for a children's hospice.

Chris Scott and Shaun Spence covered 850 miles (1,367km) in eight days in aid of Acorns Children's Hospice.

They started at Newcastle United's ground St James' Park and finished at Southampton's stadium, St Mary's on Saturday at about 17:00 BST.

"Grit and determination" helped them to the finish line after they suffered set-backs along the way.

The pair, both aged 37 and from Wythall, wanted to support the hospice, whose headquarters in Worcestershire, is at the end of their roads.

Mr Scott said he was inspired to take on a charitable challenge while watching Children In Need last year.

"Those videos come up, intending to pull your heartstrings and I wanted to do something a bit different, that would take us out of our comfort zone," he said.

Mr Scott, a West Brom fan, roped in his Villa fan friend and they set about training for the challenge.

He said they "underestimated" the speed they would be able to travel at as they had an extra 9kg of kit on their backs.

An issue with one of the bikes set them back on their journey, costing them three hours' cycle time, which they had to make up due to pre-booked overnight accommodation.

But the hardest part, Mr Scott said, was the approximately 130-mile (209km) journey from Leicester towards Norwich.

"It was a long day," he said.

"It's nice and flat, which most people are thinking that's good for a cyclist, but it's just straight roads, open road and it just seems never ending. So mentally that was tough to get through," Mr Scott said.

"It seemed most days there was something that felt like it was against us," he said, but the pair "pulled each other along".

"If we did it on our own, I think we'd probably have ended up putting the bike in the river at some point," Mr Scott jokes.

He said about a quarter of the Premier League clubs let them in the grounds to take photos pitch-side.

At reaching the finish line in Southampton, he said they felt "elation" at finishing but it had not really sunk in yet.

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