Former England footballer Geoff Thomas, who won a battle against cancer, is going the extra mile to help others beat the disease.

The ex-Crystal Palace midfielder will run the New York Marathon next month in a £20m fundraising appeal, which will benefit Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital.

Mr Thomas, 44, who earned nine caps for England, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia in 2003 and given just months to live.

A bone marrow transplant from his sister saved his life and since then he has ploughed his efforts into raising money for leukaemia research in the UK, setting up the Geoff Thomas Foundation.

The foundation aims to raise £20m to save lives by funding blood cancer drug trials at six centres in the UK, one of which is the JR.

He said: "I have watched many fellow patients lose their battle with blood cancer and I can't watch my friends die and do nothing.

"It's important to do all we can to fund these trials."

He said seven-time winner of the Tour de France and fellow cancer survivor Lance Armstrong was his inspiration. Mr Thomas has twice ridden the 3,500km cycle race route on fundraising missions.

The race in the Big Apple takes place on November 2 and is a longstanding target of the former footballer, who captained Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final.

He said: "It has always been my ambition to go to America and have a team running in New York."

His 21-strong team, known as Team GTF, includes his wife Julie, as well as some of Britain's top football writers.

Mr Thomas said: "Julie has always been a fantastic support to me. She's been training really hard for New York and it's looking like she might beat me to the line.

"We've been training together and have been doing up to four runs a week, with our longest run now up to 19 miles."

The team has the backing of Britain's top female marathon runner Paula Radcliffe and former 1,500m world champion Steve Cram.

Mr Cram said: "Geoff is a fighter, someone who doesn't give up and that's just what you need when running New York."

Ms Radcliffe said: "I admire Geoff's courage and the fact he's working so hard to save the lives of other blood cancer sufferers.

"New York will be a test of his stamina and I wish him and the team all the very best."