A festival of football for young players marked the 10th anniversary of the opening of a sports pavilion built in memory of murdered Suffolk schoolgirl Vicky Hall.
Forty youth teams took part in the two-day tournament on Stennetts Memorial Playing Field, in Trimley St Mary, and organisers were thrilled at the success of the event.
The weekend marked a decade since the then Ipswich Town manager Joe Royle and a team of former stars, including Jim Magilton, FA Cup final goalscoring hero Roger Osborne and former colleague Bryan Hamilton took part in a special evening to honour 17-year-old Vicky and officially open the pavilion.
Vicky’s mum and dad, Lorinda and Graham Hall, were among those attending the anniversary tournament.
Mr Hall, who has been a key figure at the home and host club Trimley Red Devils for many years, said: “It was an absolutely fantastic event – it could not have gone better.
“It was very well supported and everyone had fun, and the weather was lovely.
“We hadn’t had a tournament here for a long while and so to have 40 teams taking part from all over the area, including Felixstowe, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich, Woodbridge, and the Red Devils, was superb.”
The first day saw u7, u9, u11 and u13 teams compete, and then on the second day it was the turn of u10, u12 and u14 teams.
Sixth former Vicky was murdered on September 19, 1999 – snatched from the street as she walked home to Trimley St Mary from a nightclub in Felixstowe. Her body was later found dumped in a ditch 25 miles away.
Her family wanted good to come from the evil of her murder and spearheaded the Star appeal to raise £260,000 for the pavilion in her memory.
The Football Foundation provided £160,000 towards the appeal and Mr Hall said its representatives complimented the management team on the building during their inspections.
He said: “It is well-used and well supported though we would like it to be used more by the community and we are looking at ways in which we might be able to do that.”
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