A Kildare man who was tragically killed in a hit and run accident last week before he was due to attend an Aston Villa game could be remembered with a minute’s silence on St. Stephen’s Day.

Jody O’Reilly, originally from Leixlip in Co. Kildare, was the victim of a hit-and-run incident on Broad Street in Birmingham and and had match tickets to go and see his beloved Aston Villa play later that day.

After relocating to England three years ago Jody became a regular at Villa Park on match days and his family and friends are hoping to honour the young Irishman this St. Stephen’s Day when Paul Lambert’s side entertain Crystal Palace. They are proposing that the club hold a minute’s silence for the Irishman, and have launched a campaign to try and get the whole thing up and running.

The Facebook page for the campaign already has over 10,000 likes, and the Twitter campaign can be found using the hashtag #minutesilenceforjody. Former player Stan Collymore has already lent his support to the campaign which has been gathering momentum.

Declan Whooley

Online Editors