THE 15th annual Mark Burgess memorial match took place at Yorkley FC on Boxing Day, raising £1,500 for local charities.

The match between a Yorkley side and a select team is in honour of former Yorkley player Mark Burgess, who died of injuries sustained in an attack on his way home on Boxing Day 2003.

This year’s game was also special in that it saw two long-serving friends of the game step down – organiser Mark Hudson, who is chairman of Yorkley FC, and referee Barry Jessop.

Mr Jessop has been the man in the middle for all the games and he presented the 2p coin he used for the toss in all of them to Mark’s mum, Iris.

Before the game there was a minute’s silence in honour of Mark, who played for Yorkley, and Mrs Burgess, husband Dave and their son Andrew released balloons.

Mark’s former boss, builder Steve Turley, and Paul Saunders Builders sponsored the match and the ball was sponsored by Paul Russell.

Mr Hudson said: “What an amazing day, raising £1,500 – it was so good to see so many players from other clubs on Yorkley Rec.”

There were post-match refreshments and an auction at the Nag’s Head pub in Yorkley.