THIS week marked a poignant anniversary for one Ledbury family, seeing the 10th anniversary of an emotional football match that brought the mighty Manchester United to Herefordshire.

November 13 marked the date of the famous match, which saw Ledbury Town host the Red Devils in a charity fund-raiser, in memory of a much-loved Ledbury family that had been touched by overwhelming tragedy.

Homend newsagents Martin and Denise McCoig-Lees, both 47, and their nine-yearold son Ryan, a popular pupil at Ledbury Primary, died when a minibus taking them to Manchester Airport was involved in a terrible crash on the M56 in July, 2003, as the family made its way home from a dream holiday in Florida.

The town united in grief behind them and it was a fitting tribute when Manchester United agreed to the charity match, as Mr McCoig-Lees had been an avid season ticket holder at the Premier League club.

Proceeds from the match were to go to charities nominated by the McCoig-Lees’ sons Richard, aged 15, who by a miracle had survived the crash, and Matthew, aged 19, who had been studying at university at the time of the accident.

Everyone who met the pair at the time was struck by the quiet strength and dignity of the two young men.

Speaking at the time, Matthew said the town’s support had been “tremendous”

and added: “The accident is hard to get over, and I think about it every day, but it’s just a case of getting on with life.”

And on November 13, 2003, 1,500 people packed into Ledbury Town’s New Street ground to witness a once-ina- lifetime spectacle.

The event was to raise £10,000 for Ledbury Cottage Hospital and St Michael’s Hospice.

It was to be a game in which, as the Ledbury Reporter article said, “the Town side was far from disgraced and the large crowd had been treated to a competitive game, with both sides giving it their all”.

To mark the anniversary, Ledbury Town Football Club has put a special report on its Facebook site, which we have been given permission to quote from.

Martin was well-known for many years in Ledbury as the owner of the popular Homend Paper Shop newsagent.

He was also a good friend of the Ledbury Town FC chairman at the time, Chris Stephens, and Mr Stephens had the idea of contacting the premiership giants in the hope that a fund-raising friendly could be arranged between Ledbury and the Red Devils, in memory of Martin’s family.

Imagine his surprise when the United board wrote back shortly afterwards confirming that they would give the West Midlands Premier League Division side a game at New Street later on that year.

Although it was largely a reserve United side who featured on the night, several stars who have since gone on to make big names for themselves were present in the squad, such as David Jones, Matthew Williams and most notably Kieran Richardson.

Even though the Ledbury team was up against a side more used to playing nine leagues above them, the New Street outfit put in a more than commendable showing on an unforgettable night of football.

After an impeccably-observed minute’s silence took place before the match began in memory of the McCoig-Lees family, the Town stunned the hundreds of spectators present by nearly taking the lead in the first few minutes, when a great shot hit the crossbar. United then hit the woodwork themselves a few minutes later, before going on to score twice in the first period with goals from Richardson and Jones.

The Red Devils then extended their lead further shortly into the second half when Williams found the net, before the Town made a breakthrough by laying siege to the opposing goal and opening the door for veteran Ledbury player Robbie Colwell to fire the ball home for his side’s first consolation goal.

The screams from New Street could then be heard from the far side of Ledbury as Town captain Stuart Hall, himself a big United fan, struck a remarkable ball into the net from a good 35 yards out to reduce the deficit to 3-2.

Williams then found the net once more before the final whistle to end an extraordinary encounter with a highly respectable 4-2 defeat for the hosts, as fans promptly flooded the pitch for autographs.

As United captain Turner himself stated at the end of the game: “We created a lot of chances but fair play to Ledbury, they played well as well.”

It was a night which will be forever etched into the memories of all those lucky enough to witness it, and the legacy lives on with a signed Ledbury shirt and club logo from all the United players present that night, as well as a commemorative banner, still both proudly on display in the Members’ Lounge of LTFC.

A decade on, it still ranks as one of the most historic nights in the club’s long and varied history.

The event was also a fantastic community occasion, with seemingly the whole town getting involved to support a hugely successful fund-raising event for a very worthy cause, in memory of a much-loved local family.

As relative Jeremy McCoig-Lees poignantly stated at the time however: “You only wish that Martin and Denise and Ryan were here.”