Charlton to turn The Valley pink for Lyle Taylor's Cancer Research campaign

Charlton will turn The Valley pink tonight in support of Lyle Taylor and his bid to raise awareness of cancer.

Taylor has dyed his hair pink and the 28-year-old striker has been wearing matching pink boots for the whole of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Fans are being encouraged to support the initiative by wearing pink on Tuesday when Charlton play Oxford at The Valley.

The matchday programme will be a one-off pink edition, with 50p of every programme sold donated to Cancer Research UK.

Taylor has already raised more than £4,400 for the cause through his giving page.

“I want to do what I can we can get to a point where cancer does not keep taking away our loved ones,” said Taylor. “Three of my four grandparents have suffered, beaten or are living with cancer. My aunt passed away last year.

“It is not about how much money I raise, it is about much awareness I create and how many conversations can be started from this. Social media and the way football has gone now is unprecedented and we now have a bigger audience than we could ever have imagined. I thought it was about time I used that platform to make a statement.

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“Why can’t I try to make a difference? If we can get as many people talking about pink and charity work then I think it is definitely a success.

“The theme tonight is pink. We want as many people as possible to wear pink. The fans have been brilliant and the club have been unbelievable to push this out there. I could not have imagined it would gain the traction it has actually gained.”

Pink beanies will be on sale in the Charlton club shop for £5, with £1 from each sale being donated. There will also be volunteers collecting funds for the campaign on Tuesday.

Taylor said: “It has been received so well, not just by our fans but by fans of other clubs as well. That is important because it is not just about Lyle Taylor and Charlton, it is about the football community. At the end of the day we are all football fans and we could all suffer from this.

“Oppositions fans have given me some stick. I had one Barnsley player on Saturday call me a “pink-haired p****” but everyone else has been brilliant. I remember when we played Accrington before I had even dyed my hair pink and I had one fan wait for me after the game because she wanted to tell me how she had beaten cancer.

“That is the whole point of this, that we can talk about this and do something about this. People have been brilliant . . . fans, players. That is what is great about football. Yes we compete for 90 minutes but we are one big community.”

Taylor joined Charlton from AFC Wimbledon in the summer and has made a strong start to his career at The Valley, scoring seven goals and forming a good strike partnership with Karlan Grant.

He said: “It has started better than I could have imagined it would have started to be honest. I have expectations of myself and the team but we have started very well. We had one bad week before the international break but other than that we have been very good.

“Saturday proved that, beating Barnsley who were favourites for promotion at the start of the season. To put in the performance did was a brilliant. We are a good team. We have to carry on that good vibe to push ourselves up the league, where we feel we should be.

“Promotion is the dream. Someone asked me before the season what the target was and I said promotion. They looked at me as if to say, ‘do you not realise what has happened here over the last few years?’. But in football if you are not trying to be successful and do things that people think are not possible, then what are you playing football for?”

To donate to Taylor’s campaign, text “CAFC90” and then your donation to 70070. The donations will be added up and will be added to his giving page at the end of the month.