DESPITE the crushing disappointment of England crashing out of the World Cup, a community has pulled on their football shirts once again to send off one of their own legends.
The village of Langley Park, childhood home of Sir Bobby Robson, has been in mourning following the sudden death of Siobhan Watt.
The 26-year-old barmaid was found dead by her girlfriend, Hayley Field, having taken her own life, on June 29.
A gregarious character, she had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and depression in 2014, a year after her beloved grandfather, Ken Watt, died.
Her family said she never got over his death at the age of 63.
Siobhan Watt
On Thursday, friends and family wore footballs strips and white T-shirts to her funeral, marching from her grandmother’s home to All Saints Church in Langley Park.
Hundreds of people took part in the procession, bringing the village to a standstill.
Her mother, Susan Snowdon, 45, said: “We said to wear football tops because that is what she wore. She had loads of them.
“The whole village has been affected by her death. Everyone knew who she was. Wherever she went she made friends.”
Her coffin, with a Marvel Avengers design, was carried into the church to Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts before a service led by funeral director Tina Pickering.
The congregation listened to an acoustic version of Still into You by Paramore and Siobhan left the church to Pink’s Who Knew?
Her sister, Amber Watt, 22, who lives in Brandon, said: “Everybody keeps saying she was an absolute legend. It doesn’t matter where you went, everybody loved her.
“Her death has left a big empty hole. My heart feels as though it has been ripped out and stamped on and put back in.”
The family are keen charity fundraisers and, with Siobhan’s help, have raised over £6,000 with a series of community events for St Cuthbert’s Hospice and Willow Burn Hospice.
Their kindness is being repaid and her friends are now hoping to raise £500 to buy something to pay tribute to her life.
Meanwhile, her friend Anthony Chapman has already raised £700 in her memory by signing up to the Durham City Run on July 18.
He is donating the money to the suicide prevention charity, If You Care Share, and Siobhan’s family hope to raise awareness of the risk of people suffering from mental illness taking their own lives.
Her grandmother, Joyce Watt, 64, said: “I cannot believe people have been so kind. Siobhan needed someone to talk to, someone other than her family, and there wasn’t anyone there for her.
“We used to do something together every day.
“I don’t know what I am going to do without her.”
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