The two young sons of police officer Matthew Blades walked out at Old Trafford with Manchester United on Sunday in a poignant tribute to their father, little more than a week after he was killed while on duty.
PC Blades, 37, was a lifelong Manchester United supporter who regularly attended matches with his boys and shared his passion for the club with his family.
On Sunday afternoon, his sons were given the opportunity to walk onto the Old Trafford pitch as mascots ahead of United’s Premier League fixture against Ipswich Town.
The emotional moment came eight days after PC Blades and his colleague PC Tom Clough, 38, died in a head-on collision on the A66 near Middlesbrough.
Manchester United also paid tribute to PC Blades in its matchday programme, describing him as a “proud Red” and remembering his dedication both to his family and his work as a police officer.
The club said it had learned of the deaths of the two officers “with great sadness”.
Its tribute read: “Matthew was a proud Red, a devoted family man and a police officer who dedicated his life to helping others.”
Photographs of PC Blades attending United matches with his children have taken on added significance since his death, showing a father passing his lifelong support of the club on to his sons.
A close friend and colleague said Manchester United had been a passion PC Blades shared with his family throughout his life.
“For Matthew, United was a lifelong love, a passion he shared with his family,” they said.
“Since Matt’s tragic death there has been an extraordinary outpouring of grief and support.
“That love has been seen in countless tributes and acts of kindness.
“Today, we remember a fellow Red. A husband. A father. A son. A brother. A friend. A police officer.
“A man who gave his life in the service of others. Forever our superhero!”
PC Blades and PC Clough were serving firearms officers with Cleveland Police when they were killed during the early hours of Saturday, August 22.
The officers were travelling in a police vehicle on the A66 when it was involved in a collision with a Volkswagen Passat travelling against the flow of traffic.
All seven people in the two vehicles died at the scene.
The five occupants of the Passat were Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Cole Worthy, 17, and Theo Rae, 17.
An inquest heard this week that there had been a police pursuit of the Passat shortly before the crash.
Area coroner Paul Appleton told Teesside Coroner’s Court that the Passat entered the A66 travelling against the flow of traffic, at which point the pursuit was abandoned.
He said: “At this stage it is understood that there had been a police pursuit of the Volkswagen Passat.
“It entered the A66 carriageway against the flow of traffic, at which stage the pursuit was aborted.
“A short time after … the Volkswagen Passat collided with a police vehicle, which had not been directly involved in the prior pursuit.”
That vehicle was occupied by PC Blades and PC Clough.
Inquests into their deaths were opened and adjourned on Thursday.
The court heard PC Blades was formally identified by his wife, while PC Clough was identified by his partner.
The provisional cause of PC Blades’ death was given as head and neck injuries. PC Clough’s provisional cause of death was recorded as neck injuries.
The five occupants of the Passat had to be identified using fingerprint analysis, the separate hearings were told.
The tragedy has prompted an enormous response across Teesside and beyond, with tributes paid to both officers by their colleagues, members of the public and the football community.
Before Middlesbrough’s Championship fixture against West Bromwich Albion at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday, supporters held a minute’s applause in memory of the two men.
Pictures of PC Blades and PC Clough were displayed on the stadium’s big screen as those inside the ground paid their respects.
PC Blades’ widow Sarah was among those attending the match.
Floral tributes have also been left in memory of the two officers following their deaths.
Sunday’s scenes at Old Trafford provided another deeply personal tribute, this time centred on something PC Blades had enjoyed with his sons.
His children were able to walk out onto the pitch at the stadium where they had previously watched United alongside their father.
PC Blades’ death has prompted numerous accounts from those who knew him describing his commitment to his family, policing and Manchester United.
PC Clough was also a highly experienced officer and an Iraq War veteran.
The pair were on duty when the fatal collision occurred.
Their deaths have remained at the centre of a major police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Passat and events preceding the crash.
Cleveland Police has made a number of arrests during its wider investigation following the collision, while investigators have also been examining possible links to serious and organised crime.
Police have stressed that the precise circumstances surrounding the events remain under investigation.
The collision itself happened at around 3.39am on the A66 in the South Bank area.
Emergency services attended but none of the seven people involved could be saved.
The deaths of two serving officers in a single incident sent shockwaves through Cleveland Police.
Tributes subsequently described PC Blades and PC Clough as dedicated officers who had lost their lives while serving their community.
For PC Blades’ family, Sunday’s tribute showed another side of the man behind the uniform.
Away from his work as a firearms officer, he was a husband and father who loved football and took his sons to watch Manchester United.
His colleague’s description of him as a “fellow Red” reflected the connection that led to his boys being invited onto the Old Trafford pitch.
The decision meant that, on a weekend when football supporters across the North East had already remembered the two officers, PC Blades’ own club was able to recognise one of its supporters in front of thousands of fans.
His sons emerged alongside the Manchester United players before kick-off, taking part in one of football’s familiar matchday traditions under circumstances nobody could have imagined when they previously visited the stadium with their father.
The family’s loss was acknowledged in the matchday programme and inside the ground as the club remembered a supporter whose association with United stretched throughout his life.
The wider investigation into the A66 collision continues, while the inquests into the seven deaths have been adjourned pending further enquiries.
For those closest to PC Blades, however, Sunday’s moment was about the father, husband and football supporter they knew.
His friend’s tribute concluded with the words that have come to sum up how his family and colleagues remember him: “A man who gave his life in the service of others. Forever our superhero!”