JAMIE TURNER BENEFIT MATCH - Press Release

JAMIE TURNER BENEFIT MATCH

AFC TELFORD UNITED v FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER

BUCKS HEAD STADIUM TELFORD, SATURDAY MAY 6th 2006.


The board of FC United of Manchester are proud to announce an additional fixture to the club’s playing calendar. On May 6th we will travel to Telford as guests of AFC Telford United to play an end of season benefit game for United supporter Jamie Turner.

While making his way to watch Manchester United at the St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton on May 15th 2005, Jamie was left unconscious and clinging to his life after a vicious and completely unprovoked attack by a gang wielding weapons believed to be baseball bats, metal bars and chair legs. Jamie’s skull was broken in two, and he suffered a pooling of blood in the brain needing emergency brain surgery, which left him in a coma, from which he did not awake for almost three weeks. His stay in hospital lasted over two months, and in that time he underwent a number of serious surgical procedures, including a craniotomy and a tracheotomy. He has been left with poor visibility in his left eye, constantly suffers from intense headaches and extreme fatigue, has cognitive difficulties and faces yet further operations on his long road to recovery.

Thankfully Jamie has survived his immediate ordeal, and is now taking the steps he needs to get his life back towards some semblance of normality. Although the physical and mental scars will hopefully heal, the whole episode has made the last year a hugely difficult one for Jamie and his immediate family. Jamie was in business together with his wife Karen teaching IT skills on a business to business basis. Jamie’s expertise was honed during many years serving his country in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, where he was stationed with both the 1st Btn The Royal Scots and the Army Air Corps, but due to the amount of care required to see to Jamie’s needs, and the removal of Jamie’s considerable talent from the family business, the main family income stream has had to be sidelined since the attack while care and recuperation took centre stage in family life.

Jamie is a life long United supporter, with countless thousands of miles under his belt following his team all over the World and anyone who knows the lad will tell you what a thoroughly top bloke he is. Every football supporter who travels to games knows what happened to Jamie Turner could quite easily have happened to them, if like Jamie; they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. With that in mind, it seems appropriate that two clubs owned and run by fellow football supporters should take steps to help the family in a suitable manner.

Hampshire Police have now charged four men with violent disorder relating to the wider incident surrounding the attack on Jamie, but no-one has yet been specifically charged with Jamie’s assault. By announcing this benefit fixture now, the club hopes it may go some small way to bringing the incident back into the minds of anyone who can help Hampshire Police with further information that may lead to the conviction of Jamie’s attackers.

All of FC United’s portion of the gate receipts from the game will be donated to the benefit fund shortly being set up by the family, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the board and management team at AFC Telford United for their support and enthusiasm in getting this fixture onto the calendar.