The sons of a police officer who died in a road collision on Teesside will serve as mascots and lead Manchester United onto the pitch for Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Ipswich at Old Trafford.
PC Matthew Blades, whom United described as a “proud Red”, regularly attended matches at Old Trafford. The club will honour him in Sunday’s match programme, while his wife and their children are expected to be at the game.
PC Blades and fellow officer PC Tom Clough lost their lives when their police car collided head-on with a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction on the A66 near Middlesbrough during the early hours of 22 August. Five occupants of the other car were also killed.
United said the news of the officers’ deaths had caused profound sorrow throughout the club.
In its match programme tribute, the club remembered Matthew as a loyal United supporter, a loving family man and an officer who committed his life to serving other people.
Before Middlesbrough’s Championship match against West Brom at Riverside Stadium on Saturday, supporters observed a minute of applause for PC Blades and PC Clough. Images of both officers were shown on the stadium screen.
Tributes were also paid during Seaton Carew FC’s match with FC Hartlepool. PC Blades had worked as a youth football coach for both clubs.
Seventeen additional people were detained earlier this week as part of the inquiry into the collision, taking the overall number of arrests to 24.
The five people travelling in the Passat—Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and Cole Robert Worthy, 17—also lost their lives in the crash.
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