Man Utd fan Ben Dickinson, 11, raises money for Marcus Rashford-supported charity with Old Trafford walk | Football News

An 11-year-old Manchester United fan has raised enough money to pay for over 115,000 meals by walking from Larne in Northern Ireland to Old Trafford.

Ben Dickinson was congratulated by Sir Alex Ferguson, who welcomed him into his private suite ahead of the Premier League game against Tottenham.

The final total will benefit FareShare, the charity supported by Marcus Rashford, who last year appeared on a Sky Sports News Zoom call to surprise Ben after he raised £7,200 by walking a mile a day for 26 days during lockdown.

Ahead of his latest challenge the youngster, who stayed at Hotel Football before the game, was presented with a cheque by Gary Neville. The former United defender and Sky Sports pundit told him he was doing “great work.”

Ben received messages of support from Raphael Varane, Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes. He was presented with signed shirts from Ferguson and the current first team squad.

Ben told Scholes that people often tell him they are lookalikes and was later starstruck meeting United’s all-time top scorer, repeatedly saying to a laughing Derby manager “I can’t believe I’ve met Wayne Rooney.”

The Manchester United Foundation and Richard Arnold were hugely supportive of their campaign and Ben’s efforts will benefit hungry families, raising further awareness of the difficulties facing many households here.

“One in 10 people in the UK struggle to get enough to eat,” said FareShare spokesperson Ali Gourley.

“It is a massive, massive problem so we’re grateful to Marcus and Ben.”

Ben was joined on the last leg of his walk by Jane Gregg, daughter of United legend Harry. Everton invited him to Goodison Park and Sale Sharks welcomed him where he met Manu Tuilagi.

The players from his hometown club Larne walked the first mile with him after a push from owner Kenny Bruce and the former NI striker Iain Dowie.

Ben also passed on a pair of personalised shin pads to Rashford as a thank you to “his idol” before he watched Cristiano Ronaldo score a hat-trick to sink Spurs.

He was paraded in front of the Old Trafford crowd 15 minutes before kick-off along with dad Andrew, mum Claire and baby brother Zak as fans of both clubs gave him a warm reception.

Follow Manchester United with Sky Sports

Follow every Man Utd game in the Premier League this season with our live blogs on the Sky Sports website and app, and watch match highlights for free shortly after full-time.

Want the Man Utd latest? Bookmark our Man Utd news page, check out Man Utd’s fixtures and Man Utd’s latest results, watch Man Utd goals and video, keep track of the Premier League table and see which Man Utd games are coming up live on Sky Sports.

Get all this and more – including notifications sent straight to your phone – by downloading the Sky Sports Scores app and setting Man Utd as your favourite team.

Hear the best Premier League reaction and expert analysis with the Essential Football and Gary Neville podcasts, keep up-to-date with our dedicated Transfer Centre, follow the Sky Sports social accounts on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and find out how to get Sky Sports.