With just one minute to go - they romped home to victory.

A football-mad fan from Medway and his chum, kicked off on a challenge to drop by 44 grounds in 44 hours for charity over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Matt Clewes, 24, from Hempstead and mate Chris Milligan 23, embarked on their epic 1,600 mile road journey and netted at least £1,200 for Mind which supports people with mental health issues.

They first met at Solent University, so fittingly they set off in their car from St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, where they finished the following day. They headed off to Brighton, south London, out to Reading, Wycombe, Luton and Watford before returning to the capital.

Matt, of Hinton Crescent, Hempstead, said: "London really caused us some trouble because of the traffic. By the time were leaving West Ham it was late afternoon and we still had Norwich, the Midlands and Yorkshire to do. This meant we were still on the road at 2am on Sunday.""

The following day they went further north to Middlesbrough and Newcastle and then back down to the Lancashire and Birmingham clubs and then on to the M4 to south Wales.

Their travels were featured on BBC Radio 1's Matt Edmondson and Mollie King's Sunday morning show and on Radio Solent.

Matt, a Gills and Chelsea supporter, said: " When we reached our £1,000 target it spurred us on to the finishing line. I don't think we ever imagined how much support and how much of a success the whole trip has been and it hasn't quite sunk in yet.

"It didn't test our friendship too much, we managed to get through it without any arguments. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a bank holiday weekend."

Both Matt and Arsenal fan Chris from Watford have suffered with their mental health and wanted to highlight how the Covid-19 pandemic had impacted on problems.

Matt said: "It's a proud moment and hopefully the money will do amazing things for Mind.

The KM Group is committed to helping the community through the KM Charity team. For more information and to find out what other good causes you can get involved in click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Medway