, it was a special moment for everyone connected with the club – especially the supporters and my family – and my heart was beating 20 to the dozen. I'll never forget it. 'For people who used to watch my dad every week, to see the No.9 shirt back on the pitch was a big thing. And it goes without saying it was special for me to wear his old shirt, look up and see a stand named after him. 'At first it was quite a weird feeling, but deep down I just wanted to keep sharing my love fo){kind=link}
Down the M5, at a club where fans still sing Adam Stansfield’s name 12 years after his death from bowel cancer, his son is unfurling the most beautiful tribute of all
Among English football’s adventures of father and son, it is the most beautiful tale of them all.
Nothing could be a more compelling tribute to tragic Exeter City striker Adam Stansfield, who died from bowel cancer 12 years ago, than his son Jay accepting the torch and bringing his dad’s No.9 shirt out of retirement at St James Park.
So far, Jay’s loan move from Fulham has yielded four goals and his three assists, including a pair of sumptuous passes in the rollicking Devon derby defeat at Plymouth.
Everything about the way Exeter have honoured Stansfield’s memory has been tasteful and judicious. But the boy who came home to provide his own eulogy on the pitch is a story for all of football to celebrate from here to paternity.