Latest news with #WorthingUnited
BBC News
06-08-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Brighton 'do the right thing in the right way'
To the majority of supporters, quite rightly what happens out on the pitch is the most important part of following a football team - the elation and the however, what happens when a group of people come together in an hour of need gives us an insight into the fabric of an 22 August 2015 was a day, unfortunately, I will never I prepared to broadcast the Seagulls' game against Blackburn Rovers I could never have imagined what would unfold. It was certainly the most challenging of my broadcasting afternoon, 11 people were killed when a Hunter jet crashed into the A27. Among the victims was Matt Grimstone, who had worked for the club since he was 16, going back to the Withdean years. Another, Jacob Schilt, who was a fan and featured in the club's charity team, was travelling with Matt on their way to play for Worthing United in a local club immediately turned its training ground into a hub for the emergency services due to the proximity of the centre to the crash site. Support was given to those on the frontline dealing with the immediate aftermath of the crash. Professional councillors were made available to players and all staff to help deal with a very difficult that, tributes and dedications were made across Sussex but the way Brighton, led by Tony Bloom and Paul Barber, provided support for everyone internally and externally epitomises the way it prioritises its role within the did the same during lockdown, allowing the stadium to be used as a vaccination centre. There are countless examples of how they always focus on communication and is building before the club's ninth season in the Premier League, but the 10th anniversary of Shoreham is also just a few weeks away. When the day comes, I am sure we will all take a moment to thing is for sure, the club will do the right thing, in the right the conversation and tell your story about why you love Brighton
BBC News
09-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Memorial football match held for Shoreham air crash victims
A memorial football match has taken place to mark the 10th anniversary of two men killed in the Shoreham air United FC players Jacob Schilt and Matthew Grimstone had been on their way to a game when a Hawker Hunter jet crashed on the A27 during the Shoreham Air Show in August two 23-year-olds were among 11 men who lost their lives in the incident, which also left another 13 people injured. Monday's match in their honour took place between the pair's former primary schools in Brighton and Hove. Matt Evans is a higher level teaching assistant and football coach at Balfour Primary, which is Matthew Grimstone's old explained the importance of their now annual clash against Patcham Primary, which Jacob Schilt attended."A memorial match between Balfour and Patcham has taken place every year since the crash happened and I think it's great that Matt and Jacob's legacy and positivity gets to live on through the children," he said. First team coach at Worthing United when disaster struck he recalled the impact the pair's death had on the team. "I was waiting for them at the ground on that day in 2015 but they never arrived," he said. "That feeling of mourning was unlike anything I've ever experienced and we still miss them to this day." Also on the side lines at Monday's game was Jacob's mother Caroline Schlit who said she thought it was "so lovely that the two schools want to keep the memory of Matthew and Jacob alive".Matthew's mother Sue Grimstone added that her son would have been very happy with the result of the match which saw Balfour come out on top."He will have been watching and thinking 'well done boys', " she said. "It was a good game."
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.
