Goalkeeper Nicky Morgan has stepped foot onto a football pitch for the first time since an attack that left him paralysed.

The former Braintree Town stopper made an emotional return to current club Billericay Town as they celebrated winning the league.

He was given a standing ovation after walking out onto Billericay’s New Lodge pitch to collect his medal and celebrate with his team mates.

Nicky was initially left paralysed after the attack outside the Sugar Hut nightclub in Brentwood in October.

But he is now able to walk with one crutch and will leave Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment, on May 30.

Nicky said: “It was so overwhelming to hear all the fans chanting my name and to hear they are all behind me.

“Now I am walking I am determined to be able to run when it is time for me to leave the hospital.”