Dyer goes back to school

ENGLAND international Kieron Dyer took a break from rubbing shoulders with his millionaire football pals and returned to Suffolk for a blast from his Ipswich past.

The football star came home for his school reunion and partied until the early hours with his former schoolmates from Westbourne High School in the town.

Around 80 pupils who left the Marlow Road school in 1995 attended the ten-year reunion, along with two teachers.

But even though they knew Kieron had a ticket they were not sure until the last moment if he would actually turn up.

Kieron's mum, Jackie Dyer, 50, of Bentley Road in Ipswich, said that the star had really enjoyed himself.

She said: “When I asked him how it went he said that it had been really good.

“He is still friends with a lot of the people he knew from school and so he was really glad that he went along.”

Everyone at the reunion was pleased that 26-year-old Kieron turned up.

One of the event's organisers, Gemma Canham said: “We've all known him since he was a kid, so to us he's just.

“There was no adulation of him, and he certainly didn't expect people to fall at his feet and he didn't turn up dripping in jewellery.”

But Kieron, who now plays for Newcastle United, did donate £200 of the £350 raised by the reunion for the Evening Star's Terri Calvesbert Appeal.

This has so far collected more than £350,000 to help seven-year-old Terri, who suffered 85 per cent burns following a fire at her home while she was a baby.

Miss Canham, 27, of Richmond Road in Ipswich, who works for the insurance brokers Willis, said despite Kieron's fame and fortune he still slotted back in with the crowd.

She added: “He was just like the rest of us, chatting with lots of people.

“Because we all went to school together there were no illusions of grandeur.”

The reunion was held on November 12 at the Ipswich Borough Council social club on Black Horse Lane and continued at the Fire and Ice nightclub on Tacket Street, Ipswich.

Were you at school with Kieron, what memories do you have of him? Write to us at Your Letters, The Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

Kieron Dyer was born in Ipswich on December 29, 1978 and in 1996 he signed for Ipswich Town as a 17-year-old trainee.

In 1999, aged just 20, he moved from Ipswich to Newcastle United for £6m, a record transfer fee for Ipswich.

He made his England debut at Wembley in 1999 during the 6-0 win against Luxembourg, and has gone on to gain many more international caps.

Since moving to the North of England his career has been blighted by injury and he has gone under the surgeon's knife several times.

On April 2, 2005 he hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons following an on-pitch fight between him and fellow Newcastle player, Lee Bowyer, during Newcastle's home defeat to Aston Villa.

Information source: www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Profiles/0,,102785950,00.html