FAMILY and close friends came together on Sunday July 25 to hold a charity Memorial Day for former local footballer Daniel Allford who tragically lost his life.

Mr Allford, 37, lived in Chantry Gardens, Southwick. and died on Wednesday, June 2. His family held a funeral on June 24.

He leaves behind a son Kian, 15, a daughter Airah, six, and a recent son Kova, now approaching a year old.

Mr Allford was a fully qualified painter and decorator and played semi-professional football for local clubs including Trowbridge Town FC, Bradford Town FC, Melksham Town FC and Chippenham Town FC.

At the memorial match, his daughter Airah brought out the match ball.

A crowd of over 200 people took part in two minute’s silence just before the memorial football match at Southwick, which raised £2,040 for the Wiltshire MIND charity.

Every player at the match was wearing a number seven shirt - the number Dan used to play in.

The two teams comprised former players from different Sunday league and town and village teams with whom Mr Allford had played.

Returning from a busy soccer schedule was Adam Nunn who was part of the linesman squad at the recent Euro 2020 tournament.

Adam, who was a friend of Daniel during his semi-professional career, was the referee for the soccer match held at the Southwick playing field.

Taking part was Dan’s brother, Jamie, and close friend Carl Davies, who had organised the two teams with the co-operation of Ben Deadman, who unfortunately wasn’t able to attend the match having to self-isolate as he had been Covid-19-pinged.

Daniel’s mother Sue was among the crowd attending the match. he said: “It was good to see so many people come together to make the memorial day a success and we now hope to make it an annual event.

“A special thank you must go to staff at the Southwick playing field for the use of the grounds, and a big thank you to Kelly Gregory who has worked endlessly to gather the many raffle prizes with all the funds going to Wiltshire MIND.”

One of the main attractions was a pre-match flypast by motorist gliders before the game began.

For the music fans, live music was laid on in a large marquee followed by evening entertainment by DJ’s Sampson and Merce.