A CHARITY match held in memory of former Newcastle United footballer Gary Walton has raised more than £600.

The remembrance game took place between the two Sunday teams he used to play for before his three-year spell with Newcastle.

Gary's friends and family in Coundon, County Durham, are still shocked by his death outside a village pub in July. He played for Coundon Working Men's Club and the Three Tuns pub for more than ten years.

Match organiser Alan Shoulder said the memorial trust fund for his widow, Susan, and daughters, Kara, eight, and Laura, 11, had topped £14,500. Other people in Coundon have also raised funds for the family.

Alan said: "The match went really well. Everyone I spoke to wanted to play - even people who hadn't seen him for ten years. They all had the highest respect for him."

Jump jockey Christopher McGrath, 23, of Brancepeth Manor Farm, Brancepeth, County Durham, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Gary and will face trial on Monday