Poignant tribute to Birmingham City fan

Dec 15 2009 by Paul Suart, Birmingham Mail

THE family of a Blues fan who died suddenly aged just 51 have been handed a poignant memento from his favourite player.

Dad-of-two Keith White, from Redditch, was fit and healthy and a regular at the gym until he suffered a heart attack in a London hotel while he was away on business in September.

Now his widow Georgina has been handed a jersey worn by Blues goalkeeper Maik Taylor.

Embroidered with a red poppy, Taylor’s top was among those worn by the squad in support of the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal and later auctioned off.

Georgina, aged 41, placed a successful bid on ebay for Taylor’s shirt as she said she knew she had to honour Keith’s memory for their children Emily, six, and Joshua, four.

“It was almost like it was meant to be,” she said.

“I had to get his shirt.

“My son can now have a memento of the programme and the shirt and always have something to remember his day by.

“Keith adored his children and everyone who came to his funeral, which was packed, said he would always get photos of the kids out to show them.

“Emily has downs syndrome and also suffers from deafness, a hole in the heart and chest infections.

“It’s very sad because she doesn’t really know what has happened.

“Joshua is missing his dad and fully understands he’s gone and he’s never coming back.

“We bought an apple tree for the garden.

“Joshua puts things on it because he knows it will go to his dad and the angels.”

Taylor handed his shirt to Georgina in a poignant presentation at Blues’ Wast Hills training ground after the auction raised almost £6,000 for the Legion’s appeal.

Georgina and Keith met at work more than ten years ago. But they did not fall for each other until a chance meeting at a guest house in Morecambe owned by Keith’s sister, which was where Georgina was staying.

“It was really kind of weird,” she said. “We decided things were meant to be. We did all our courting in Morecambe.” Georgina said she planned to spread Keith’s ashes across Morecambe Bay and also to relocate to Morecambe where many of his relatives live.

She said: “That was always our dream, to buy a large house on the sea front. So I’m finishing off that part of the dream.”