Football stars remember Ray Matts

Some of British football's biggest names joined hundreds of mourners to pay tribute to former Express & Star sports journalist Ray Matts.

Three men who managed Albion and Villa - Ron Atkinson, Brian Little and Ron Saunders - were alongside ex-Villa bosses Martin O'Neill and Graham Taylor, current assistant boss Gary McAllister and first team coach Gordon Cowans at Streetly Crematorium for the service, conducted by Reverend Denis Sunley.

Sunley was one of Matts' successors as West Bromwich Albion correspondent on the Express & Star.

Former Albion player Brendon Batson, Villa's European Cup winner Gary Shaw, ex-Birmingham City manager Trevor Francis and ITV broadcaster Jim Rosenthal also attended yesterday's service.

Matts' best friend Jeff Farmer - another former Express & Star sports writer - gave an emotional reading while Atkinson also delivered an address.

A boyhood Albion fan who later covered the club for this paper, Matts died earlier this month aged 70 after a short illness, leaving wife Valerie and son Timothy.

During a 50-year career which started on the West Bromwich-based Midland Chronicle, Matts covered many of the region's greatest sporting triumphs for the Express & Star, Birmingham Evening Mail and Daily Mail.

Recognising Matts' lifelong passion for music, his coffin was wheeled in to the strains of Tina Turner's Simply The Best and mourners left to Status Quo's Rockin' All Over The World.

The wake was held at Bloxwich Golf Club, where Matts was a member for 23 years.