SOCCER players paid a poignant tribute to a brave man last night.
Players from Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United donned black armbands in memory of Examiner journalist Adrian Sudbury, who last week lost an 18-month fight against leukaemia.
Their tribute was welcomed by Adrian’s father, Keith, and his sister, Carrie, who were invited to the Carling Cup tie by Town chairman Ken Davy.
The pair watched from the directors’ box as both sides walked out on to the Galpharm Stadium pitch side by side.
Adrian, 27, who worked for the Examiner from November, 2003, had lived in Sheffield.
His last months had been spent fighting a hugely successful campaign on two fronts.
He succeeded in convincing Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Government to introduce talks on bone marrow donations into all schools and colleges.
And he has also single-handedly doubled the number of people registering as potential bone marrow donors.
Town spokesman Alisdair Straughan said: “Adrian was an inspiration to a great many people and the team wearing black armbands was out of respect for him and the work he did in raising the profile of donors for leukaemia sufferers through the Anthony Nolan Trust.”
The Town club also gave 50p from the price of each programme to the Trust.
Town lost the match 2-1.
Keith Sudbury said: “They looked after us very well and it was an honour to be there in Adrian's memory.”
