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Darby has dedicated his time to raising awareness and fundraising for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation, which he co-founded with his late friend and former British Army veteran Chris Rimmer, who passed away from MND in 2022 at the age of 39.

“For me it’s… sorry,” Spearing says, pausing to compose himself.

It continues to raise awareness for MND, fund research into finding a cure and support those affected by MND as well as their families.



Darby and Spearing have been friends since playing in Liverpool’s academy (Jay Spearing)

In March, they staged their biggest-ever charity fundraiser.

He’s still fighting and we’re still fighting for him.”

Spearing, who is a patron of the foundation, has had his own health issues to contend with since Christmas Eve 2022 when six months into his new role at Liverpool he was rushed into hospital.

He was diagnosed with Addison’s disease, a rare condition whereby the adrenal glands stop producing two essential hormones the body needs to stay alive.

“Over time, I started to feel a lot of fatigue,” Spearing says.

So as well as trying to raise awareness for MND and Stephen, I’m also trying to raise awareness for Addison’s for the people that are suffering with that.

“I want to talk about Addison’s to raise awareness but I don’t want to talk about it (at the same time) because there’s people who have it a hell of a lot worse than me.

This to me is home,” Spearing, who played 55 times for Liverpool and started the FA Cup final in 2012, says.

This season’s 1-0 victory was supported by a cast of academy players, including forward Jayden Danns who came on in the 87th minute and played the entirety of extra time.

“It is an unbelievable feeling to see people like Jayden Danns succeed.