GAVIN SMITHHundreds of people attended a charity football match organised in honour of Gavin Smith, who died on 13 May, 2007.Forest legend Trevor Francis went along to the game at Meadow Lane, Nottingham,in memory of Mr Smith, who was 37 and from Carlton.He died after suffering head injuries near his home in Whimsey Park, Carlton.The match saw £8,000 raised for Cerebral Palsy Sport and 500 people turned up.It was organised by his employer E.on and Notts County and sponsored by O2, which provided programmes and shirts for players.E.on workers played a 90-minute match for teams named GS Cobras and Borussia MonchenGAVbach in Mr Smith's honour.Mum Margaret said: "His dad Colin and I were overwhelmed that they actually wanted to do this."We just think it is absolutely wonderful - the atmosphere was tremendous and everyone has worked so hard to get this off the ground."Among the attractions for fans were the FA Cup trophy, a Shoot The O game and raffle prizes including FA Cup final tickets and an O2 Apple iTouch phone.Money raised will be matched by E.on and go towards giving sport and recreational opportunities to disabled people.Charlie Harvey, Gavin's line manager at E.on IS, the company's IT service provider, said the company wanted to make the day special.He said: "Gav was a massive sports fan, he loved his cricket and his football."With E.on being the sponsors of the FA Cup we have quite a lot of clout - the committee have tried to drive it forward and it has just got bigger and bigger."Gav would have loved all of this."He was always the life and soul of the party whenever there were team nights out."The teams were given a pre-match team talk by Trevor Francis.He said: "I was attracted to the fact that this was in Nottingham and I have done my best to support the day."Ross Taylor, managing director of E.on IS, said: "Gavin was one of those people who gave more than he took."How Gavin suffered his fatal head injuries is a mystery. Police appealed without success for a man who made a 999 call to them to come forward.
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