Wycombe Wanderers rename ground Adam's Park for weekend after fan who died, aged 17

Adam Ankers died in hospital after becoming ill during a football match

Wycombe Wanderers will rename their stadium for the weekend as a tribute to 17-year-old supporter Adam Ankers, who died earlier this month.

He was playing for Wycombe Wanderers Foundation's under-19s team when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

An apostrophe is to be added so Adams Park becomes Adam's Park for Saturday's home game against Oxford United.

The change has been approved by the family of Frank Adams, after whom the ground was named in 1990.

A Wycombe statement said: "Adam was a season ticket holder and avid supporter of the Blues, attending home games with his dad, brother and sister.

"All three were in attendance to watch Matt Bloomfield's men record a superb 5-2 victory over Peterborough United last weekend, with fans breaking out into applause for Adam as a mark of respect in the 17th minute.

"The club have remained in close contact with the Ankers family and, with their wishes, will celebrate Adam's life with a minute's applause ahead of kick-off at the Oxford fixture, with the team due to wear T-shirts bearing Adam's name and squad number during the warm-up, and black armbands during the game itself."

Adam was a pupil at Henley College, where he was hoping to earn a sporting scholarship to a university in the United States, and fellow students and friends have also been invited to attend the Oxford game.

Following his death last week, Chairboys head coach Matt Bloomfield said: "I was deeply shocked to hear the news that Adam was taken ill last week while playing the game he loves, and he has been in our thoughts since as we hoped and prayed for his recovery.

"We are all extremely saddened to learn that he wasn't able to pull through and our deepest condolences are with his friends, team-mates and family at this awful time."

Warm-up T-shirts and other items will be sold after the game to raise money for Thames Valley Air Ambulance and Harefield Hospital, who provided care for Adam after he was taken ill.

A statement from the family on the Wycombe website said: "His loss to the family is both shocking and devastating; he was so very loved and we will never forget what a bright light he was to us.

"His passion and talent was for sport and especially football; he was absolutely living his dream and had so much more potential."