School pals reform team in honour of tragic Will

A TEAM of Tytherington footballing friends will pay tribute to the memory of a pal by playing the game he loved.

Popular Macclesfield lad James Williams, known as ‘Will’, had a sudden heart attack aged just 32, in December last year, after moving from the town to live in France.

The charity game for the Diabetes fund at East Cheshire Hospice, will bring together his old school mates to compete against his junior team at Tytherington High School.

Ex-teammate Ben Corcoran, 32, of Rainow, said: "We’re doing this because he was just such a good friend of all of ours, so we put our heads together and decided this was the best thing to do. He was so happy with his life in France which is why it is so sad and cruel that he was taken so suddenly and unexpectedly – he was a special person, he was a big man with a big heart, with a wicked sense of humour, but had a soft side, especially with kids, that only family and close friends saw. When we were at Tythy, James loved his football and represented both his school and Macclesfield Schools teams, and played for Bollington United at the weekends. He was a staunch Red too – it you’d cut him in half you would have found ‘Man U’ running all the way through him!"

James was a Hurdsfield Primary pupil before moving to Bollington, when he attended St John’s, before moving onto Tytherington High.

In his Macclesfield days, James worked at Shrigley Dyers in Bollington. He later worked at Gradus, on Clowes Street.

Also a keen tennis player, and more recently a fisherman in France, he had just become engaged to a French girl and moved to Rochelle to live with her. James upped sticks two years ago to France, where his parents have a mobile home, and subsequently helped his parents to develop a holiday home.

"He was a cracking labourer and helped them to build every wall," said Ben.

"He loved his time in France, he loved the French people, the lifestyle, the countryside and towns, and his language skills improved fantastically, as did his skills in the ancient French game of petanque – the locals could not believe he was English when he beat them. He touched the lives of a lot of people both young and old and will be sadly missed, but lovingly remembered."