Friends and family of a football fan have remembered him with a special match and an auction of soccer memorabilia.

Tim Martin, of Old Heath, Colchester, died last year from complications arising from Crohn's Disease - a bowel disorder.

A charity football match was held on Friday between the clubs for which Mr Martin played goalie - Great Braxted and Rees Sports - to raise cash for the Crohn's Disease Society.

On Saturday evening a disco was held at Great Totham village hall, along with the auction.

Items up for grabs included a signed England shirt, which sold for a whopping £900, a signed Arsenal football and other autographed items from clubs such as Southampton, Everton, West Ham, Colchester and Ipswich.

But the big one was tickets to the FA Cup final.

Mr Martin's former teammate, Ian Dobbins, who stepped into the role of auctioneer for the night, said: "The tickets should have been sold for £120 normally but they went for £650.

"There were a few Arsenal supporters fighting each other for them so I bounced them off each other."

The auction alone raised £2,760 and, Mr Dobbins added, the cash raised so far totalled £5,760, but donations are still coming in.

Guest of honour was Mr Martin's mother, who was presented with a portrait of her son.

Published Tuesday, April 29, 2003

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