In his programme notes today, the Villa boss dedicated the New Year’s Day victory over Sunderland to Kildare native killed in a hit-and-run in December.
One of the most tragic stories over Christmas was that of Jody O’Reilly. The young Kildare native was killed in a hit-and-run incident in Birmingham on December 15 and his family and friends began a Facebook campaign to get his beloved Aston Villa to hold a minute’s silence in his honour over the festive period.
We wrote about it then and we also brought you the good news that Villa agreed to a tribute, a minute’s applause, before the game against Crystal Palace on St Stephen’s Day.
Villa lost that game but they got a valuable win on New Year’s Day away to Sunderland and in his message in the programme ahead of today’s FA Cup tie against Sheffield United, Paul Lambert dedicated that win to Jody.
It’s a classy move by Lambert, and the club, to remember Jody and we’re sure it means a lot to his family and friends.
Thanks to Thomas Curran for the snap.
