Friends Fighting Cancer charity gearing up for annual football tournament

The reigning Mid-Solent League champions take on Denmead at Front Lawn in an HPL Division 1 curtain-raiser at Front Lawn (8.10pm).

But before that, Ogilvie has another visit to the Havant-based venue - one that is very, very close to his heart.

This Sunday he will be playing in one of eight teams all bidding to reach the FFC final at AFC Portchester’s Crest Finance Stadium on September 13.

Ogilvie set up FFC in 2008. Originally named Football For Cancer, it was changed last year to Friends Fighting Cancer to highlight how much the organisation - which gained charity status in 2015 - has grown from just being about raising money through one sport.

Since its inception, FFC – which covers the Bournemouth and Southampton areas as well as Portsmouth - have raised over £1m and regularly hand out grants for a variety of reasons.

‘We work closely with McMillan Cancer Research and the Wessex Cancer Trust,’ said Ogilvie.

‘Some other charities have restrictions about what they can give money to, but we have no such restrictions.

‘If someone has the chance to try a new medicine and need to go to London, we can pay towards their travel expenses.

‘Someone could need money for a new wardrobe, a freezer, a fridge, anything.

‘Normally our grants are capped at around £500, but on rare occasions we have gone higher.

‘We had one case recently where we paid out more than that towards the wedding of a person who had only been given six months to live.’

One of the main events of the fundraising calendar is the annual football tournament featuring over 160 players.

Every year the players’ names are picked out at random and teams are formed. All are given the name of a local person who has passed away due to cancer.

Ogilvie said: ‘We normally invite the families of the people who the teams are named after to come down to the matches.

‘They can tell the players all about their loved ones, and we all sing their favourite songs before games.’

The team Ogilvie is managing this year is named after Katie Scannell, from Crookhorn, who passed away in January 2018. She was only 14.

His side will be playing a team named in memory of Kev Figgins at Front Lawn. Co-incidentally, some of the players Ogilvie manages for Harvest Home will be on the opposing team.

‘Team Katie Scannell has raised £14,000 already and we’ve only played one game,’ he said.

‘Last year FFC raised over £84,000, and there were only 12 matches.

‘It just shows there’s so much more to the charity than just football.

‘We’re all one big family.’

FFC have certainly diversified since their early days of just organising charity football events.

A boxing night held last year at Portsmouth’s Mountbatten Centre raised around £50,000, while a golf tournament will be held at Wickham Park in October. A new Mercedes car is on offer to anyone carding a hole in one.

Skydives and darts tournaments have also been held.

To start with, FFC raised money for a variety of different charities.

In 2009, they raised over £14,000 for Marie Curie Cancer care and the following year a cheque for £32,000 was presented to the Rowans Hospice.

In 2011 they raised £22,000 for the Petersfield-based Rosemary Foundation and 12 months later £27,000 for the Tom Prince Trust - named in memory of a Pompey-supporting teenager.

Macmillan Cancer Support received £33,000 in 2013 and the following year a £50,000 donation was presented to children's charity Naomi House.

After that, FFC became a charity in their own right.

Three years ago, FFC opened their first shop - in Cosham High Street - selling pre-loved sportswear and equipment.

They have over 500 football shirts on sale and one of the biggest supplies of darts equipment on the south coast.

‘All our boots are £6,’ said Ogilvie. ‘Even if they cost £150 originally, we’ll sell them for £6.

‘The shop doesn’t keep the charity going, but it’s a great hub to have.

‘It’s great for me to have a base, and it’s somewhere people can come in and have a char or a cup of tea if they want.’

In addition to their charity work, FFC also have two teams in the Portsmouth Sunday League.

In 2019/20, the first team had won their last nine league and cup games by the time the season was halted in mid-March. Top of the Second Division at the time, they were subsequently downgraded to runners-up spot - Jameson Arms finishing top by virtue of a better points per game average.

For more details on FFC, visit ffc.com

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Ogilvie will be at Front Lawn on Saturday as well as Harvest Home take on US Portsmouth Reserves (2.40pm) in their final friendly.

Harvest stunned higher division Bournemouth Manor last weekend with an 8-1 victory in Dorset.

Manor had won the Bournemouth League four years in a row prior to 2019/20.

‘They are a strong team, ugly, they like to bully the opposition,’ said Ogilvie.

‘I told my players ‘don’t worry about that, just play football’ - it was amazing, we were 5-0 up in 25 minutes.

‘Their manager said they didn’t know what had hit them, they had under-estimated us.’