Wigan murder victim Billy Livesley's rugby fixture salute

A keen Wigan sportsman will be honoured by his team mates during a memorial game just over a year after he was murdered.
A flashback to the 2019 Billy Livesley memorial matchA flashback to the 2019 Billy Livesley memorial match
A flashback to the 2019 Billy Livesley memorial match

Billy Livesley, 21, was a popular player for Ince Rose Bridge Rugby Club, while also switching sports to play for Abram FC.

Now, members of the team will head to the rugby pitch to play a testimonial game in his memory.

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The club’s 2015 National Youth Cup winners will take on Spring View ARLFC at 3pm on Saturday at the Pinfold Street ground.

Billy LivesleyBilly Livesley
Billy Livesley

It follows a match between Rose Bridge and Shevington Sharks at 1pm.

Head coach Darren Blakeley said: “Most of the players who played in that 2015 final will be around 22 or 23 now, and hopefully they would love to get together and be part of a celebration charity do in memory of Billy.

“Anyone who wants to get in touch can do so by calling the club and letting us know that they are available. Billy was a cracking lad and we all want to do something in his memory.”

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It is not the first time sport has been used to pay tribute to Billy, who lived in Abram.

Rose Bridge hosted a large event last January, a week after he died, to mark what would have been his 22nd birthday and raise funds to help pay for his funeral.

There was a rugby match and a raffle, before friends and family released a host of balloons into the sky for Billy.

Abram FC played against Hindley Town in a fund-raising match that same weekend.

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A football tournament was also held in August at Spring View Rugby Club to raise money for charity in his memory.

Billy was hit with a metal bar on a car park on Bickershaw Lane, Abram, on December 28, 2018. He suffered serious head injuries and died in hospital the following day, surrounded by his family.

He left his pregnant girlfriend Leah, who named their son Billy Junior when he was born in August.

David Connors, 26, of Leighton Street Caravan Park, on Leighton Street, Preston, denied murdering Billy but was found guilty after a trial at Manchester Crown Court. He was given a life sentence, with a minimum jail term of 17 years.

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