THE sudden death of a young football player has shocked his team-mates and the community.

The Bow AAC player, named locally as Nick Cole, tragically collapsed during a match and died shortly after last Saturday afternoon.

Nick, aged 26, was playing in the home match against his childhood football team of Thorverton, when he left the pitch, complaining of feeling ill.

After he collapsed he was airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital by a Devon Air Ambulance but despite the efforts of paramedics, he failed to recover.

The match was abandoned after around 80 minutes.

Devon and Exeter Football League chairman Roger Spray said: "I'm very, very shocked. On behalf of the club I send our sincere condolences to his family, that goes without saying, we don't know any of the circumstances or what happened at this stage but it was a very tragic event."

He added that from what he could gather it could have been as a result of a heart attack.

Bow chairman Doug Coles was at the match and said the player reported breathing difficulties two minutes before the half-time whistle.

He added: "At half-time he came off the pitch then he came back out saying he wanted a bit of fresh air and then he started saying his legs were like jelly.

'COULDN'T HAVE MET A NICER

GENTLEMAN'

"We have a paramedic in the club and he was at home but we got him up here in three or four minutes. He tried to calm Nick down and it went from there, really.

"Two ambulances came and an air ambulance in the end.

"The air ambulance took him away, but within an hour they pronounced him dead."

Mr Coles added that the death of the young player, who he had coached for the past two years, was "tragic beyond words."

Of Mr Cole, he said: "You couldn't have met a nicer gentleman."

He said that his club "was about more than football, it's a family. We all go out together; he was a part of that. He really enjoyed football and never had a bad word to say about anyone. It's a tragic, tragic loss."

He said: "You don't expect this sort of thing to happen. Definitely not, he started the game as normal, he had worked his way into the first team in the last few weeks, it was ironic that this game was against his childhood team."

Mr Cole worked for Parkwood Leisure at the Riverside Leisure Centre in Exeter.

A spokesperson for Devon Air Ambulance Trust said that it received a report at 4.20pm on Saturday to attend the scene of a male suffering cardiac arrest.

The service dispatched a helicopter from the North Devon base, which arrived on the scene minutes later.

Friends, colleagues and football enthusiasts have taken to social media to pay tribute to Mr Cole.

Flowers and cards, Nick's football shirt and a sign stating "Nick Cole RIP Forever in our team" have been placed outside Bow AAC clubhouse adjoining the pitch.

Bow AAC placed on its Twitter account the message: "We'll miss you my friend. Devastated doesn't cover it."

Barclay Beales, a member of the boy band, "Stereo Kicks", who comes from Bow, was one of those who placed a message on Twitter. It read: "RIP Nick Cole. On behalf of everyone from Bow, you will be missed. Top Lad."

Hundreds of other people have also placed messages on social media to express their grief and add their tributes to the football player.

On Sunday afternoon his team-mates gathered at their local pub before visiting the football pitch to pay their respects to their friend.

The Devon and Exeter Football League has cancelled Bow's forthcoming fixtures at the club's request.