ONE of England's bravest footballers will be remembered forever at the spot where he fell, after the unveiling of a memorial on the Somme.

As a full back with Bradford Park Avenue, Donald Simpson Bell never won a league title or the FA Cup, but in the horror of the Western Front he became the only English professional footballer to win the Victoria Cross.

Last night his relatives, representatives of the Professional Footballers' Association, the Green Howards and French villagers gathered for the unveiling of a memorial at the spot where "Donny" Bell was killed.

Leading from the front came naturally to Bell, who was the first professional footballer to enlist for the First World War and was quickly commissioned from the rank of corporal to second lieutenant with the North Yorkshire regiment, later the Green Howards.

Having played for Crystal Palace and Newcastle United, Bell was a professional with Bradford Park Avenue when war broke out. He enlisted in 1914 after gaining permission from the club's directors.

On July 5, 1916, his platoon was pinned down under enemy fire in no man's land at Horseshoe Trench.

Richard Leake, secretary to the Friends of the Green Howards, said: "Bell was supremely fit from his footballing days and, ignoring his own safety, crawled swiftly up a communication trench and got close enough to the machinegun nest to shoot the operator with a revolver."

His outstanding bravery was recognised with the award of the Victoria Cross, but he did not live to receive the medal.

On July 18, five days after his bravery at Horseshoe Trench, the regiment again found themselves under heavy fire as they tried to drive German troops from the small French village of Contalmaison.

Bell was killed in the fighting.

Local people still refer to the area as Bell's Redoubt.

That is where the story might have ended, but for the efforts of Mr Leake and the Professional Footballers' Association. Using old trench maps and aerial photographs, the exact spot where Bell fell was identified.

Last night, as the sun set on the Somme, a memorial was unveiled marking the spot where one of England's bravest footballers fell.

Carved out of York stone by Thirsk stonemason Neil Collinson, the headstone features a replica of the original wooden cross marking the site and the word "Bell's Redoubt."

More than 20 relatives of Mr Bell saw the memorial unveiled by Major General Richard Dannatt, of the Green Howards.

echo 2000, we are