Armistice match in memory of Chris Grant
Footballers from Newark are to travel to Ypres in Belgium to take part in a special football match to mark the centenary of the end of the first world war.
The Armistice match will be played on November 11 between Newark Town's Sunday side and FC Emmendingen, from Newark's twin town in Germany.
As well as commemorating the end of the war, the game will be played in memory of a much-loved Newark sportsman, teacher and councillor, Mr Chris Grant.
It has been organised four years on from a game between the two towns which commemorated the Peace Game played between British and German troops on Christmas Day 1914. It is believed a Newark soldier, William Setchfield, who served with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, may have witnessed the historic encounter.
Mr Grant, a keen historian, was among those on the first trip. He travelled on the bus with the Newark Town FC under 21 football team, sharing his knowledge of the area, the battles and the battlefields.
Lewis Poole, who was the captain, said they had wonderful memories of the first match.
"Part of its success was having Chris with us as we toured the various former battlefields," he said.
"I can still hear his knowledgeable commentary as we travelled with the German lads through Paassendale. He spoke of the needless loss of life there in 1917 and movingly, the place alongside a narrow country lane where the very first Peace Game was played during the truce on Christmas Day 1914.
"On this next trip we will remember all who died in that horrible conflict but also, with some affection, we will remember Chris."
The Newark team are due to travel to Belgium on November 9. They will attend a service at the Menin Gate, Ypres, a memorial which bears the names of more than 54,000 soldiers who died before August 16 1917 and have no known graves.
The game will be played two days later in Crackstadion, Ypres, in Belgium, home of KVK Westhoek, starting at 11.02am.
Francis Towndrow, who has helped to organise both games, said he could think of no more fitting tribute to Chris.
"There is only one place that Chris would have been on November 11 2018 had he still been alive, in Ypres commemorating the end of the first world war, and supporting the young men playing football on that battlefield where so many lost their lives.
"It is an honour to have known him and to have been in his company."
Chris' wife Doreen and their family have thanked Newark Town FC and Emmendingen FC for dedicating the match to his memory.
"He would have been deeply touched and delighted by this kind gesture," they said.
