Get involved FORMER team-mates will turn out to pay tribute to popular Sam Turpie, who died while playing football at the age of 29.
The father of two young girls, who also ran a football coaching business which mentored youngsters in Coventry and Warwickshire, collapsed while playing in a charity match at Hartshill Recreation Ground, near Nuneaton, in July 2007. Players from two of the teams he had connections with &ndash Hartshill Sports and Stockingford AA &ndash will take part in a fundraising game at the Cabbage on Friday, May 22. A Sam Turpie Tribute Fund was set up after the tragedy to help support his widow Dionne and daughters Millie and Maisie. Sam, who was well-known throughout the local footballing community, was the son of former Nuneaton Boro player Bob Turpie and had taken over as coach of Boro’s youth team. The qualified FA coach had set up coaching company Boots and Laces, which also worked closely with Coventry’s Youth Offending Service to involve youngsters from some of the city’s most deprived areas in football.
Tribute fund committee member Lee Gore said: “The main object of this latest event is to remember our mate Sam and to thank everyone for their support over the past two years.”