CARING Aldershot Town Football Club have joined hundreds of others in donating a shirt in honour of a footballer who died on a night out.

Jordan Sinnott, who played for Matlock Town in the Northern Premier League, was found with a fractured skull after an alleged assault in Retford, Nottinghamshire, on January 24.

And Danny Ward and Alex Smithies, best friends of the 25-year-old midfielder, decided to work with Sinnott’s family to appeal for football shirts emblazoned with his name and the number ‘25’ as a fitting tribute at his funeral.

All 92 English Football League Clubs and a host of non-league clubs all over the country answered the call, including Aldershot Town.

Shots boss Danny Searle and skipper Dean Rance displayed the shirt with Simon Weaver and Jon Stead at the EBB Stadium ahead of last Saturday’s National League clash with Harrogate Town.

“It’s very sad when you lose anybody but when you have all this controversy around football that you have and all the negativity that goes with it, when something like this happens it goes to show that regardless of who you support and what your rivalries are that everyone does come together because it is football, it is a sport, it is supposed to be something that you love going to and love watching because it’s enjoyable,” said Searle.

“And when you lose someone in the way that we lost Jordan, it rocks the whole football world.

“The show of force from everybody has just been remarkable and we are just glad that as a club we could pay our respects and be a small part of what is a moving juggernaut at the moment it seems, so credit to the people that have arranged it.”

After the funeral of former Huddersfield Town and Chesterfield player Sinnott, son of former professional Lee Sinnott, the shirts will be donated to Sport Relief, which helps underprivileged children in the UK and around the world.

“Football does a lot for a lot of people and there’s always a lot of negativity, sometimes rightly so, but it also really brings people together in a lot of ways, whether it’s grassroots football, non-league football or professional football,” said Searle.

“It really is a community thing and when it really needs to it shows its force and it does support communities in lots of different ways.”

And he added: “It’s another great cause and I’m sure Jordan’s family will take some kind of solace in the fact that what has happened, however tragic it was, it has actually managed to benefit so many people.”