Simon Dobbin: Cambridge United honours fan with minute's silence

Cambridge United dedicated the front page of its programme for the game against Bolton to Simon Dobbin

A minute's silence has been held in memory of a football fan who died this week, five years after he was attacked by opposition hooligans.

The commemoration, held at Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium before their match against Bolton Wanderers, honoured Simon Dobbin.

Mr Dobbin, 48, was left brain-damaged in the assault after a match in Southend, Essex, in 2015.

He died in his sleep at his home in Mildenhall, Suffolk, on Wednesday.

The interactive digital programme for the match features a picture of Mr Dobbin on the front cover.

Simon Dobbin was accompanied by his daughter, nephew and wife Nicole on his first visit back to Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium after he was attacked

Inside, a message from the club, which he supported along with Liverpool, said it had been with "great sadness and a heavy heart" that it had heard of Mr Dobbin's death.

The tribute said: "The love shown towards him and his family since then, from far beyond the Cambridge United football family but indeed right across the national football family, has been an indication of the strength and resilience shown by the Dobbins in the face of such tragedy."

The death of Mr Dobbin has "come as a shock" to his daughter Emily

Mr Dobbin was left unable to walk, talk or move independently when he was attacked after a match against Southend on 21 March 2015.

Twelve men were jailed in July 2017 in connection with the assault.

The programme said his family, including wife Nicole and daughter Emily, had shown "courage, dignity and strength" since the attack.

It said: "His first visit back to the Abbey Stadium following the tragic incident was as poignant a moment as the Abbey has ever and may ever experience."

It added "his huge smile truly lit up the Abbey", before signing off: "Rest peacefully Dobbo. Forever a U."