NEWCASTLE United manager Sir Bobby Robson is leading a dream team of football stars in a fight against cancer.

The Magpies boss leads a squad of Premiership players and managers, who have all had their lives touched by the disease.

They have posed for a photograph to launch Cancer Research UK's Man Alive initiative, that aims to raise awareness of cancers that affect men, especially testicular cancer.

The line-up includes England internationals Sol Campbell, David James, Ashley Cole and James Beattie.

Sir Bobby was treated for a malignant growth in his nose in 1995 and three years earlier overcame bowel cancer.

He said: "Working in football, we're often portrayed as heroes. But when you stand back and look at it, we are just here to entertain people and, hopefully, send them home with smiles on their faces.

"Scientists and doctors working to find a cure for cancer are the real heroes, and I applaud them.

"My surgeon saved my life - it's a very humbling thought that's with me every day.

"Football is a world sport and cancer is a world disease. To see so many world-class players putting aside their domestic rivalries to come together and acknowledge that their lives have been touched by cancer, proves that no one is immune from this dreadful disease - no matter who they are."

The charity launched the initiative after a league table of testicular cancer rates among the world's top 20 footballing nations revealed that men in Britain are three times as likely to develop the disease than their opposite numbers in World Cup-winning Brazil.

The Man Alive FC squad photo will be available as a 99p Father's Day card, to be sold in selected Cancer Research UK shops.

* For more details about the campaign, visit the website, www.cancerresearchuk.org/manalive