Friends and family gather to honour Scott

Buy photos » Scott’s teammates Ryan Cooper and Joe Papworth, and close friend Curtis Pearson hold the Scott Holden memorial plaques.

THE LIFE of a much-loved Pershore High School Student who died suddenly has been honoured after his school's astroturf football pitch was named after him.

Close friends and family of Scott Holden gathered at the Station Road school on Monday (July 2) to unveil the huge sign outside the school's sports grounds.

The sign says 'Welcome to the Scott Holden Football Centre' with a picture of him playing his favourite sport on the right hand side.

Scott died on Christmas Eve, aged just 16, after suffering an epileptic fit triggered by an undetected brain tumour.

Scott's uncle Bill Robison told the Observer how the teenager loved his football and enjoyed being part of a team.

"Scott was a tremendous chap. He would always make the best out of everything that was in front of him," he said.

"He was kind and a really lovely boy and a great example to my kids who looked up to him even though they were older. They treated Scott like he was a brother of theirs. He will be greatly missed.

"I think the fact his death happened on Christmas Eve and on the eve of what should be a happy family time made it a worse blow than you could ever imagine. What can be anything worse?

"But today is an excellent one back against fate and to say there's some good in life. We have come here from Leamington and we were just so impressed by how kind everybody has been in Pershore and gathered around to support us.

"We were at his memorial match and it was wonderful and the support shown that day says a lot about the town."

Before he died, Scott showcased his talent on the field playing for Drakes Broughton Rangers Under 16s. His team coach Steve Goode also paid tribute to him.

"I'm really pleased this has happened," he said. "Scott was one of those lads who everybody got with and did not have a bad word to say about anybody and he has been missed by a lot of the players.

"He is talked about in training and with this honour his memory will go with years to come. The team still trains here so every time we come here we will see his name up."

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