Two teams and one minute of applause marked the start of a football match played to honour James who passed away in his sleep on the 14th March 2016.
The charity match was the idea of fellow footballers Charlie Ashton, Jake Sampson and Josh Benjamin. Hundreds of family, friends and fellow footballers attended the memorial match on Sunday afternoon, May 22, between Nailsea Athletic and Nailsea United at Grove Sports Centre.
Nailsea United Football Club member Barry Sampson said: “We didn’t take much notice of the score as there were no winners or losers, it was raising awareness of the heart foundation to show our respect for James.”
His parents Carol and John, girlfriend Hannah and sisters Lucy, 25, Clare, 34 and Katie, 32, were all at the match with Lucy acting as mascot.
James was a member of Nailsea Junior Football Club from the age of five before moving up to play for Nailsea United when he was 16. A Bristol City and Man United fan James – known as Coley to his footballing friends – moved from Kent to Nailsea with his family when he was four-years-old. James’s position as number 4 in the club’s reserves team has been ‘rested’ since his death.
