Guy Bradshaw’s family say it means ‘more than words can say’
Guy Bradshaw and his daughter Ava(Image: Family supplied)
The fundraiser for a Manchester City fan who died while on a trip to watch his beloved team has passed more than £30,000.
‘Wythenshawe legend’ Guy Bradshaw had travelled to Benidorm to watch the match between City and Villareal on Tuesday (October 21).
The 35-year-old was with a group of other City fans who had made the journey and was staying at a tourist resort in Benidorm, around 130 miles away from Villarreal’s stadium.
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However, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, hours before kick-off, a friend of Guy’s found him dead in the apartment he was staying in.
A fundraiser was set up to support Guy’s grieving family and his daughter Ava and cover the costs of his funeral and the repatriation of his body.
It has now smashed its initial target of £25k, reaching almost £33,000 at the time of writing with almost a thousand donors (917).
Guy and his daughter Ava (Image: Family supplied)
Among them is an anonymous donor who left a donation of £8.5k, with social media flooded with tributes to Guy.
His cause of death has not yet been confirmed, but the Manchester Evening News understand that the family have been informed there are ‘no suspicious circumstances.’
His dad Martin, 56, was on his way to Villarreal to meet Guy at the game but changed his route when he heard the terrible news.
“A lot of people have bad words for social media but the lovely messages, lovely pictures, thousands of pictures I’ve seen are touching and gives me that comfort to cope while I’m here,” he told the Manchester Evening News.
“I’m also getting hands-on support from the staff at City, who have been extraordinary. I don’t know what I would have done without them turning up to help us at such a difficult time.
“We’re doing this for Guy because he deserves everything.”
Guy, a former Parklands High School and Ringway Primary School pupil who ran his own carpet cleaning business, also leaves behind his 12-year-old daughter, Ava, his mum Jeanette, twin brother Kane and younger brother Zak.
Guy’s cousin described her cousin as a ‘gentle’ man who ‘idolised his daughter’ and ‘lived for City.’
“He was so well-known in Wythenshawe, and by City fans,” she said. “He was really gentle, kind and caring. He was never in any trouble. He never had any enemies. He lived for City and his young daughter. He idolised her.”
She said his death had left the whole family feeling ’empty.’
“We’re just completely shocked, as he was so young,” she said. “He was a healthy lad. The whole family is just devastated.”
A Manchester City spokesman posted on X on October 22: “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Guy Bradshaw, a City supporter who tragically died in Spain before the Club’s match against Villarreal last night.
“Everyone at the Club sends their condolences to his family, friends, and fellow fans during this difficult time. Once a Blue, Always a Blue.”