Stoke City planning tribute to players and fans who have died in 2024

Stoke City are putting together a big screen tribute for supporters, players and staff who have died in the last 12 months.

Stoke have long been applauded for the poignant way in which it marks those with a connection to the club who have been lost over the previous year. A match has been set aside around late December or early January for a film to be shown before kick-off and at half-time at the bet365 Stadium.

This season it will take place before the Championship game against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, January 4 (12.30pm). It will include tributes to Matija Sarkic, the former Stoke goalkeeper whose tragic death at the age of just 26 in June rocked the football world; Peter Handyside, the former Stoke captain who passed away aged 49 in February; and Stoke promotion winner Viv Busby, who died at the age of 74 in May.

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Stoke's goalkeepers - including Sarkic's friend Viktor Johansson - paid their own tribute to Sarkic before this month's game against Millwall, who Sarkic had played for last season. Stoke, meanwhile, have launched the Peter Handyside Trophy, to be played for annually by the under-18s and 16s teams of Stoke and Grimsby Town, where the defender has legend status.

Those who are being remembered will feature in that day's match programme and via the club's social media platforms.

Fans are now asked to submit the names of friends and family to the club.

Any supporter wishing to include someone in this memorial tribute should email the club via remembrance@stokecityfc.com, attaching a photograph of their loved one together with their name and years of life (i.e. 1950-2024). The deadline for inclusion in the matchday programme is 12pm on Friday, December 27, while all entries for the big screen must be received by 12pm on Thursday, January 2.