Wycombe Wanderers stadium changes name in memory of teenage boy
There will also be a minute's applause for Adam Ankers, ahead of kick-off at the Oxford fixture
Wycombe Wanderers are renaming their stadium this weekend, as a tribute to 17-year-old fan Adam Ankers.
Adam, a player for the Wycombe Wanderers Foundation Under-19s, passed away earlier this month after suffering a cardiac arrest while playing in a patch for the Foundation team at Henley College.
Last weekend, Adam's family, who are all season ticket holders, were at the 5-2 victory to The Chairboys', where fans applauded Adam in the 17th minute, as a mark of respect.
The Club have now announced that season ticket holder Adam will be remembered once again this weekend, at Wycombe's game against Oxford United on Saturday 17th February, with Adams Park renamed with an apostrophe, to Adam's Park, in memory of their avid supporter.
"Really fantastic on the pitch, and fantastic in the classroom, and a really role model on the programme, and he also happened to be a season ticket-holder."
Paying tribute to the young fan and player at the Foundation, Chief Executive at Wycombe Wanderers Foundation, Mark Gaitskell, said: "Obviously a tragic situation that's impacted everyone at the football club, and Adam was part of our Football and Education Programme, which is a partnership with Henley College."
"He was an aspiring young footballer on a foundation programme."
"Really fantastic on the pitch, and fantastic in the classroom, and a really role model on the programme, and he also happened to be a season ticket-holder."
"We wanted to go just that little bit further and an idea came up [...] which is a really small change but I think with a very powerful meaning, and really impactful."
Adam's family are supporting the decision, as well as the family of Frank Adams, who the stadium was named after when it opened in 1990.
Mr Gaitskell said: "It was immediately discussed with the football club - 'what can we do? We need to do something to honour Adam', and if we could be in a position to provide even the smallest amount of comfort the family who have obviously gone through an awful situation, we wanted to do that."
"We wanted to go just that little bit further and an idea came up that, his name's Adam, our stadium is called Adams Park, wouldn't it be lovely to just make that very slight change to the name, which is a really small change but I think with a very powerful meaning, and really impactful."
Players will also be wearing t-shirts bearing Adam's name and squad number during their warm up, as well as a minute's applause being held ahead of the match.
Black armbands will also be worn by players during the match itself.
"Adam was a hugely talented sportsman who was in the early stages of establishing a career as a professional footballer..."
Adam's family, who will be at the match, released a statement earlier this week, in which they said Adam's "loss to the family is both shocking and devastating".
Adam suffered a cardiac arrest, with his injuries described by the family as "not survivable".
The family went on to say: "We also add our thanks for the support provided to the family by Henley College, the Wycombe Wanderers Foundation and Wycombe Wanderers Football Club."
"Adam was a hugely talented sportsman who was in the early stages of establishing a career as a professional footballer. Having attended Princes Risborough School and achieving excellent GCSEs he moved to Henley College to pursue the path to his dreams of playing football professionally; he was in the process of securing a sporting scholarship to university in the United States."
Fans have been asked to support the celebration of Adam's life this weekend, and Oxford United have been thanked for their support too.