Latest news with #MarkSanderson
BBC News
07-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Worthing football club remembers players lost in airshow crash
'Our players died on their way to a match' 11 minutes ago Share Save Juliette Parkin BBC News, South East Share Save Juliette Parkin Club chairman Mark Sanderson has been volunteering for Worthing United for more than 30 years A West Sussex football club has said the memory of two players killed in the Shoreham air crash disaster is a "very good reason to keep going". Non-league side Worthing United FC, nicknamed the Mavericks, play in the ninth tier of the football pyramid, the Southern Combination Football League. The club relies heavily on volunteers, including chairman Mark Sanderson, who has been giving up his own time for more than 30 years and was at the helm on the day 23-year-old players Jacob Schilt and Matthew Grimstone died. "It was a dreadful loss... I call them my boys because that's what it's like," he said. "You don't expect someone to lose their life on their way to a football match." Eleven men died when a Hawker Hunter plane crashed onto the A27 in West Sussex as it carried out a stunt at the Shoreham Airshow on 22 August, 2015. This year marks 10 years since the disaster and Worthing United said it was vital their memory was kept alive. The main stand at the Lyons Way ground was built in memory of Jacob and Matthew with their names across it, thanks to fundraising events at the club. Juliette Parkin A stand at the club has been named after former players Matthew Grimstone and Jacob Schilt Mr Sanderson said: "If you look in our clubhouse, there are pictures on the wall. Their names are everywhere, they feature in the programmes. "With the family still coming to watch us, it's a very, very good reason to keep going and try to be successful. "They were good footballers, the boys were good players. In tribute to them we want to try to emulate what they did. " The families of the two players, who were 23 when they died, still attend matches and have been made lifelong vice-presidents of the club. Juliette Parkin Caroline Schilt and Phil Grimstone said going to matches brings them comfort Caroline Schilt, Jacob's mother, said: "They still welcome us every time we come to matches. "We come to support, because it just gives us some comfort and they certainly give us a lot of comfort and help." Matthew's father, Phil Grimstone, said: "This game doesn't stand still for very long - people move on, don't they - a lot of the people here now wouldn't know them at all. But their memory lives on, very much." Mr Sanderson also manages the ground, is often on the gate on matchdays and does any other jobs that need doing with the help of his family. He said other volunteers were a "godsend." 'Local lads' Mr Sanderson's daughter, Ellie, is the club welfare officer. She said: "There have been times where it's just been me and dad, and we thought, right, what are we going to do? And thankfully, people have come forward because we can't afford to pay. "If there weren't volunteers, we wouldn't have anyone, and then we couldn't run, and we wouldn't be here." First team manager and club treasurer Bill Clifford said most of the players were local and had come up through the club's thriving youth section: He said: "Our team is made up of predominantly local lads - we don't have lads from other parts of Sussex, so it really is a local team, and then their families come - it's great fun." Worthing United finished the season seventh in Division One of the Southern Combination Football League, on 64 points.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dancing Rotherham United fan video goes viral
A video of a Rotherham United fan spotted dancing at an away game has been viewed more than 2.5m times on social media. Corey Sanderson, who is autistic, attended the Birmingham City v Rotherham United match on 1 February with his dad, Mark Sanderson, 49. The 19-year-old was filmed dancing just before kick-off. He said: "Any time I hear music I like, I'll dance to it and I've done it at most games I've gone to, like, home or away but this is the first time I've actually had the home fans notice and also film me." Corey's dad, who is a teaching assistant, said: "He is really shy but is enjoying the attention." He said he was initially worried about the reaction of people on social media but that "it soon became apparent that, you know, the good was outweighing the bad". Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here. Four generations of fans to mark club's centenary
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dancing Rotherham United fan video goes viral
A video of a Rotherham United fan spotted dancing at an away game has been viewed more than 2.5m times on social media. Corey Sanderson, who is autistic, attended the Birmingham City v Rotherham United match on 1 February with his dad, Mark Sanderson, 49. The 19-year-old was filmed dancing just before kick-off. He said: "Any time I hear music I like, I'll dance to it and I've done it at most games I've gone to, like, home or away but this is the first time I've actually had the home fans notice and also film me." Corey's dad, who is a teaching assistant, said: "He is really shy but is enjoying the attention." He said he was initially worried about the reaction of people on social media but that "it soon became apparent that, you know, the good was outweighing the bad". Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here. Four generations of fans to mark club's centenary
BBC News
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Dancing Rotherham United fan video goes viral
A video of a Rotherham United fan spotted dancing at an away game has been viewed more than 2.5m times on social Sanderson, who is autistic, attended the Birmingham City v Rotherham United match on 1 February with his dad, Mark Sanderson, 49. The 19-year-old was filmed dancing just before said: "Any time I hear music I like, I'll dance to it and I've done it at most games I've gone to, like, home or away but this is the first time I've actually had the home fans notice and also film me." Corey's dad, who is a teaching assistant, said: "He is really shy but is enjoying the attention."He said he was initially worried about the reaction of people on social media but that "it soon became apparent that, you know, the good was outweighing the bad".Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
