He has played in the Premiership and kept Wayne Rooney quiet.

But former Norwich City star Craig Fleming almost met his match when he tackled the shifting shape of the shingle bank at Salthouse.

The popular defender joined volunteers and staff from the Norwich City Community Sports Foundation (CSF) for a 47-mile walk along the Norfolk Coast Path.

The group finished the gruelling trek in just under 24 hours.

And Mr Fleming, a CSF ambassador, admitted the challenge was 'really tough' - particularly the shingle bank, which the group walked along at night while already footsore.

He said: 'It went well and I enjoyed it. But it was hard going and physically really tough. The shingle bank was a challenge. It seemed to go on forever.'

He added: 'It was a great experience, though. You can easily forget how beautiful Norfolk is.'

Mr Fleming was joined by Andy Fisher and Chris Batten from social networking company Ipatter, which named CSF as its charity of the year for 2011, plus Jackie Thornton and Emma Fletcher from CSF and Mark Curtis from Larking Gowen.

Mrs Thornton said: 'The hardest part was the shingle bank, which we walked along for four miles. But it was a fantastic experience. We spurred each other on to keep going and raise more money.'

The six walkers were joined at 9pm on Thursday at Morston by North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb and his wife Mary.

The couple walked with them for six miles, and Mr Lamb said: 'I was very keen to support them. I have got a lot of admiration for that lot. They do brilliant work with a whole load of youngsters across the county.

'It was a lovely night and a very beautiful stretch of coastline but we did feel a bit guilty that these people already had very sore feet by the time we arrived to do a few miles with them.'

The group hopes to have raised at least �3,000 for CSF's Sporting Light Appeal, which has been set up to raise �50,000 to help continues CSF's work with people with disabilities. The work has been put at risk by funding cuts.

They set off from Hunstanton at 9.15am on Thursday and walked day and night, stopping at Burnham Deepdale, Wells, Cley, Sheringham and Cromer en route. They finished at Sidestrand Hall Complex Needs School at 9am yesterday.

? To donate, go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/norwichcitycommunitysportsfoundation.