Club are United in tribute to Bill

Buy photos » Bill Aston’s son and brother lead the tribute at Redditch United. Photo by Marcus Mingins. 0512014MMR1.

REDDITCH UNITED honoured a much-loved former player before they took on leaders Brackley Town in their Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division encounter at the Valley Stadium on Saturday.

Everyone at the Reds was saddened to hear of the recent passing of popular former centre back William (Bill) Aston, who died at the age of 89, and before Saturday’s match players, officials and fans paid tribute to the stalwart former player and Redditch supporter.

United’s players stood arm in arm and Bill’s son and brother came on to the pitch to lay flowers in the goal as a mark of respect to Bill, who joined the club in 1951 and enjoyed many excellent seasons, including 1953 when he captained the team to become Birmingham Combination champions and Worcestershire Senior Cup runners-up.

This success was also repeated in 1955 and in 1957 the Reds were runners-up in the Birmingham Senior Cup.

Club spokeswoman Lisa Thomson said: “Bill was always a dedicated footballer and when he could not get to training he would train on his own.

“His dedication went as far as him playing with a broken ankle, stuffing snow down his boots to numb the pain!

“Bill always said he was not a brilliant player, but he sure knew how to stop the ones who were!”