Wigan Athletic fans put their best foot forward for the annual Walk4Joseph!

The annual 'Walk4Joseph' is now in its 10th year, with dozens of fans walking to a Latics game towards the end of the season to raise funds for vital medical research.

This year, rather than walk to an away game, fans will instead start at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium, and walk the 50 miles back to Wigan in time for the League One clash between the two sides at the Brick Community Stadium on Saturday, March 14.

The annual pilgrimage has seen fans walk to - or from - Bolton, Fleetwood, Morecambe, Blackpool and even Leeds.

Around £175,000 has been raised in total - all of which has been committed to ground-breaking research into Non-Ketotic Hyperglycinemia at UCL in London.

NKH is the rare genetic disorder from which Joseph Kendrick - Latics' lucky mascot at the 2013 FA Cup final - suffers.

"Planning starts as early as the previous June when the fixtures come out,” said Martin Davies, one of the walk organisers along with Martin Tarbuck and Spencer Holland. “We discuss the possibles, check them against the cup and international schedules etc and eventually come up with what we think is the ideal game.

"To be honest it is hard work, especially when you're slogging up a hill in January, but when it comes to the main event it's worth every step and every hour of planning. It's been a real privilege to be involved with Walk4Joseph these last few years and now I just can't wait for March to enjoy it with our brilliant team of walkers and raise much needed funds for a vitally important charity.

"I'd urge anyone who's thinking about it to get involved as it really is a brilliant event to be involved in. Even if you can only make the last day from Bolton it all helps and I promise you won't regret it."

The walkers will be transported to Bradford on Thursday morning, when they will begin their return journey.

After an overnight stay in Hebden Bridge, the walkers will then cross the Pennines bound for Bolton, where they will stay over on Friday night.

The final leg will see the short-ish trip from Bolton to Wigan in time for kick-off on Saturday afternoon.

Anyone wanting to get involved can contact [email protected] for details and to join the mailing list. They can also get in touch with @JosephsGoal on social media.

For those unable to commit to all three days, they are able to join the walkers for one of the days – or even just the final push from Bolton.

The Bradford game is particularly significant given the number of former Latics players now with the Bantams, including Max Power, Stephen Humphrys, Nick Powell, Curtis Tilt, Paul Mullin and Lee Evans, under the watchful eye of David Sharpe, who is the club’s head of football operations.