A fundraising campaign has been launched to support a young Cumbrian footballer left in a coma by an unprovoked attack.

Danny Hodgson, a former Carlisle United youth player, is in a critical condition in a hospital in Australia.

Friends and team-mates have been quick to rally round 25-year-old Danny and his family and have already raised more than $77,000 to help with his recovery.

The GoFundMe page, launched by friend Steven Burton, has been shared by a number of Danny's former clubs and team-mates in Cumbria.

To visit the page and donate, click here

Danny's parents, from Bigrigg, Egremont, today launched a public appeal for help to find a flight that would help them be at their son's bedside at Royal Perth Hospital.

Mum Nicola's post on Facebook was shared by thousands of people and in an update she has thanked everyone for their "incredible support" and said they had some "promising leads" that could help them reach Danny in Perth.

She also highlighted the GoFundMe page and said: "This money will go directly to Danny and supporting every element of his recovery."

Danny, who played for Windscale and Cleator Moor Celtic and was then on United's youth books, now plays for ECU Joondalup in Western Australia.

He was allegedly struck from behind at a Perth train station and knocked unconscious after spending the day with his team-mates.

He was taken to hospital for emergency surgery for head injuries and, after suffering brain haemorrhaging, is now in an induced coma.

The Australian have today reported that a 15-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with grievous bodily harm and is due to appear in Perth Children’s Court on September 22.

His devastated family said they were attempting to find an airline to fly them to Perth in spite of travel restrictions on the number of people allowed to enter the region each week.

A number of footballers have shared the family's appeal, with Manchester United's west Cumbrian star Dean Henderson as well as fellow ex-Carlisle academy players Mark Gillespie and Kyle Dempsey are among those urging people to help the Hodgsons.

Donations of $5,000 from Henderson and $3,000 from England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin have added to the GoFundMe total, along with $1,000 from Danny's former Carlisle youth team colleague Alex Salmon, who also plays in Australia.

England and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer has also used Twitter to share a different fundraising appeal, started by ECU Joondalup, after being alerted to it by ECU coach Kenny Lowe, the former Barrow AFC and Carlisle United player, who is also urging authorities to help Danny's family.

"Danny is a great player, but more importantly he is a great bloke who is extremely popular with his teammates," he said in a statement.

"We are wrapping our arms around him, his girlfriend Jess and their families and giving them as much strength and support as we can.

"We need to get his mum Nicola and dad Peter on a flight so they can get over to Perth and be with Danny as he faces this challenge."