A FOOTBALL club is being set up for grieving dads.

Sands United FC are a Northamptonshire-based football team made up of fathers who have lost a child.

And now the team want to expand to Brighton.

Andy Lindley, 38, is one of the men in charge of setting up the seaside team and says he was inspired to join Sands United after suffering his own personal loss.

Andy believes the team will prove helpful to men who have experienced similar losses to himself and his team mates.

He said: “Many grieving fathers bottle up their feelings, which can lead to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder so we want to help break the silence amongst men, empower them to own their feelings and take care of their mental health.

“With men aged under 45 more likely to die by their own hand than any other reason it is important that men are offered many different ways of seeking and getting support.”

Andy, an account director at Legal and General, and his wife Leah had been trying for a second child and she became pregnant in 2014.

But 24 hours after announcing the news to friends and family an appointment with the doctor revealed that their newborn would not survive the birth.

“We were absolutely devastated,” Andy said.

“The future we were so excited about was suddenly taken from us.”

To make matters worse, Leah had to continue with the pregnancy, which was induced in September despite their child having a February due date, and give birth to her stillborn child.

Andy said it was a traumatic period, adding: “We were saying goodbye to our baby boy, Dexter.

“Goodbye to the hopes, the dreams and plans we had already built for him.”

It was Andy’s love of football that, three years after his family tragedy, brought him to Sands United.

The team was set up by Rob Allen, whose partner had lost their baby daughter in 2017 at 39 weeks.

The club was set up in support of stillbirth and neonatal charity Sands, which is where it gets its name.

Following their success in providing their players with a support network where they can open up about their feelings, the team now wants to expand into Brighton.

Anyone who wants to know more about Sands United can email Andy on sandsunitedbrighton@gmail.com.

To learn more about the Sands charity visit www.sands.org.uk

Anyone experiencing emotional distress and struggling to cope, can contact the Samaritans 24 hours a day seven days a week on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org.