Manchester United honour police officer killed in A66 crash as his sons lead team out at Old Trafford
Paid tribute to police officer Matthew Blades at Old Trafford on Sunday, with his two sons leading the team out as mascots before. Manchester United — full…
Manchester United paid tribute to police officer Matthew Blades at Old Trafford on Sunday, with his two sons leading the team out as mascots before the Premier League match against Ipswich. Blades was killed in a head-on crash on the A66 near Middlesbrough on 22 August, and the club described him as a “proud Red”.
His widow attended the game with the couple’s children. United also included a tribute to Blades in the match programme, while the sons walked out alongside captain Bruno Fernandes and goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
A club tribute with personal weight
Blades, a regular at Old Trafford, died alongside his colleague PC Tom Clough when their police car was hit in a collision involving a vehicle travelling the wrong way on the A66. Five people in the other vehicle also died.
United said they learned of the deaths of the two officers “with great sadness”. In the programme, the club wrote that Matthew Blades had devoted his life to helping others. “Matthew was a proud Red, a devoted family man and a police officer who dedicated his life to helping others,” the club said.
For the Blades family, the occasion carried a painful weight. For United, it was a rare moment when football’s routines gave way to grief, memory and local loyalty.
Tributes spread beyond Manchester
The gestures at Old Trafford came after a weekend of remembrance across English football. On Saturday, Middlesbrough held a minute’s applause for Blades and Clough before their Championship match against West Brom at the Riverside Stadium.
At Elland Road on Sunday, match officials for Leeds United’s Premier League game against Brentford wore black armbands because referee Tony Harrington was a friend of Blades.
The tributes reflected how quickly the crash resonated beyond Teesside. The two officers were known not just to colleagues and friends, but also to fans, officials and clubs that chose to mark their loss in public. Old Trafford offered the most visible stage. And for Blades’ sons, it became a deeply personal walk onto the pitch.
