Memorial football match raises £2,600 in honour of sportsman

A memorial football match was held in honour of a well-loved sportsman.

Andy Gordon, from Morton, died suddenly earlier this year from pancreatic cancer at the age of 59.

Andy, who was married to his wife Caroline for 33 years, played football and cricket for Fiskerton for over 40 years, and also played rugby for Southwell for a number of years.

When he retired from playing, he volunteered as a groundsman for the Arthur Radford Hall and ground.

When he died, an idea was mooted by Ryan Adshead from Bleasby Football Club, which uses the ground, to bring his old teammates together to play football and cricket in his memory, and also to raise funds to erect a memorial bench for him and raise money for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.

Over 150 people turned up to watch a team of Andy’s former team mates, The Andy Gordon team, play against Bleasby’s current team, with the former losing 2-1.

A cricket match was also planned, but this had to be cancelled due to weather conditions.

Caroline said: “We had a terrific turnout and we raised a phenomenal amount. It was a wonderful day and it was lovely to see how well regarded he was.”

Ryan said: “Andy did so much for Bleasby and the other clubs who use the facilities. He will be sorely missed.”

There was also another game between Southwell Outlaws against Jake’s Eleven, finishing 8-4 to Outlaws.

After the match, there was a croquet game and the teams took part in a tug of war, with a tombola, raffle, and barbecue, bar and cake sale.

The day finished with an auction at The Full Moon Inn at Morton, and overall, the event raised more than £2,600.

It is hoped that enough has been raised to erect a memorial bench in Andy’s name, as well as to purchase a defibrillator kit for the Arthur Radford ground. Any extra funds will be donated to pancreatic cancer research.

Andy’s stepson, Adrian Metcalfe, said: “It’s blown us away again with the amount of people that have turned out for him.”

His grandson, Callum, added: “It’s the kind of thing he would have done for someone else.”

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