Warrington Town FC are raising funds to support the family of young player Vini Desouza, who sadly passed away at the age of just 19.

His family, based in Walkden near Manchester, are understandably heartbroken and we would like to raise anything we can to help them meet the funeral costs.

A bucket collection will also be held at the upcoming home game against Scarborough Athletic.

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Warrington Town are saddened to report the passing of youth team player Vini Desouza.

The 19-year-old joined the club in 2023 and made an immediate impact with his fantastic technical ability, and has been a prominent part of the club’s youth set-up.

Born in Brazil, Vini grew up in Portugal before moving to Walkden near Manchester 10 years ago.

Scorer of the most spectacular goals, Vini was a well respected, much loved member of the club, and his ability earned him a place training with the first team despite his young age.

He played for the first team last season in the Cheshire Senior Cup against Cheadle Town, and trained regularly with the first team, appearing in numerous pre-season friendlies over the past couple of seasons.

This season, Desouza scored seven goals in 13 appearances for the Under 21s, who currently sit top of the North West Development League.

Over the past two seasons, Desouza has contributed 17 goals in 12 assists in 42 appearances from midfield across the Under 18s and Under 21s.

The Under 21s team bravely went ahead with their game away at Macclesfield yesterday, less than 24 hours after finding out about their team-mate’s passing, winning 4-1 in tribute to him.

Team-mate Sam Gill paid tribute: “Vini was a well loved and much valued player in our team. He grew into his character as his time at Warrington went on, and all of the lads had so much respect for him.

“He was an extremely talented footballer with so much ability, had a major impact coming in with us and consequently earning his space for training and playing matches with the first team.

“Vini is someone who will be missed dearly, both on the pitch and more importantly his character in the changing rooms and outside of football. We will all miss him and we send our condolences to his family at this difficult time.”

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