A charity football match held in memory of two Shropshire men has raised about £1,000 for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

The Shropshire Star’s advertising department took on staff from the William A Lewis car company in a fiercely fought match at Sundorne Sports Village in Shrewsbury last night.

The evening was organised to raise money in memory of Barry Jones, former advertising manager at the Star’s Ludlow Office and Les Garlick, former managing director of William A Lewis.

Colleagues of both men took to the football field to raise funds for the hospital where they had both received treatment.

Gareth Cadwallader from the Shropshire Star said both men had suffered from cancer.

“Les died exactly a year ago and Barry died in October. I was friends with and had worked with both of them for many years and, during talks with Les’s colleagues at William A

Lewis, we decided to do a fundraiser for the hospital in their memory.”

All proceeds from the match will go the League of Friends at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to help fund new equipment.

Mr Cadwallader said the match had been a very competitive game in tough temperatures for the players.

He said the score was level at 3-3 after 90 minutes.

“The Shropshire Star eventually won the match on penalties,” he said.

After the match itself the fundraising continued with a raffle and the auctioning of premier football club shirts.

“It looks as if we will have raised about £1,000 from the night,” Mr Cadwallader said.

“Everyone enjoyed themselves and we raised some much needed money for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in memory of two very well respected men.

“Raffled football shirts included those from Manchester United, Everton, Liverpool and Arsenal with one signed by Arsenal’s Van Percy.

“We are very grateful to all those who supported the event coming along to watch.”