Fundraising football match held to remember Thetford family

A fundraising memorial football match has been held to remember a family who died in a car crash.

Domingos and Maria Serrano, their 20-year-old sons Afonso and Dom and the girlfriend of one of the twins, Weronika, died shortly after landing in Portugal on 8 August.

The family lived in Thetford, Norfolk and Sunday’s match was between the town’s two football clubs, as the twins had played for both sides.

Their siblings Fabio, 32, and Rita Serrano, 30, who were not in the crash, attended the “incredible event” and said: “We can’t say thank you enough.”

Mr Serrano said: “My brothers were only 20-years-old, so they were only starting to begin their live and now it’s all gone.

“We’re trying to support each other the best way we can.”

Ms Serrano said they were taking it day by day, but “trying to think about the memories”.

She remembered how her football-mad brothers would finish their training and then come to her house to play more football in the garden.

The under-18s match was organised by Thetford Town Football Club at their Lomax Spiral Systems Stadium in Thetford, with kick-off at 14:00 on Sunday.

Afonso and Dom had played for Thetford Town’s under-18s, having played junior football for Thetford Bulldogs.

The brothers, their parents and Weronika landed in Faro, on Portugal’s south coast, on the evening of 8 August.

But after picking up a hire car to head north to see their family, they were involved in a crash shortly after 02:00 about 62 miles (100km) into their journey, on the IP2 main road in Castro Verde. A man in the other car also died.

Sally Hughes, 43, one of the match organisers, described the brothers as “lovely, lovely lads”.

She praised local businesses who rallied round to offer sponsorship or raffle prizes.

“The response we’ve had in such a short time has been absolutely amazing.

“We can’t thank the local community enough, they pulled together when it really mattered.”

Michael Richardson, 43, another of the organisers, said the twins were born in the town.

“The family have been part of the community for a considerable amount of time now, so it only felt the right thing to put on something like this for them,” he said.

The organisers hoped to raise at least £12,000 to support Weronika’s family, as well the Serranos.

The money is designed to “ease the burden of any bills they may not be aware of at a stressful time”, Mr Richardson added.

“I was absolutely devastated when I heard the news,” said Thomas Dunning, 27, who coached the brothers when they played for Thetford Bulldogs under-15s.

“They were very committed, they wanted to be the best footballers they could be and Maria was always there, rain or sun, supporting their boys.”

He said the brothers’ former under-15 team-mates attended the match.

“The boys were great players and great people as well,” he added.

Thetford Town FC chairman Nigel Arms described it as a sad but important occasion for Afonso and Dom’s friends.

“They were school mates, team-mates and they socialised with each other – at their age it’s difficult to cope,” the 66-year-old said.

“But at the same time, we’re a community and you’ve got the two Thetford clubs coming together and recognising the two lads and their family and Weronika have lost their lives.”

Portuguese nationals Domingos, 55, and Maria, 51, had worked at Center Parcs in Elveden, Suffolk, where their sons had been working recently.