A FOOTBALL club was in mourning yesterday after one of its players collapsed and died on a night out in his home city.

Thomas Staniforth, who was 20, collapsed as he was about to go to a nightclub in York and died on the journey to the city's district hospital.

He was a defender with First Division side Sheffield Wednesday.

Yesterday his father, Gordon, a former professional with York City, said: "He was a very determined character.

"Everybody loved him. He was a loveable softie. He loved kids. This is tragic."

The death comes only four years after Thomas's brother, James, 23, broke his back in a fall in America. However, he has made a good recovery.

A post-mortem examination was being held yesterday in an attempt to discover the cause of the sudden death. He had been ill recently, and had visited a doctor complaining of headaches and a stiff neck.

His father, who works with a football academy in York, said his son had been with Sheffield Wednesday for five years and was highly regarded at Hillsborough, where he had been on the fringe of a regular place in the first team squad.

"He was on the subs bench for six matches in the Premiership, against sides including Arsenal and Man United, and I was thrilled to bits," he said.

For the past year, Thomas had suffered health problems, which doctors believed to be a form of arthritis and threatened to end his football career.

Club spokesman Steve Chu said: "Everybody is stunned by what has happened. He was like a part of the family. It is just a really big shock."

A minute's silence in Thomas's memory will be held before Sheffield Wednesday's home game against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

l Former West Ham and Manchester United goalkeeper Les Sealey has died suddenly, at the age of 43, after suffering a heart attack on Sunday.

He leaves a wife, Elaine, and two teenage sons, Joe and George, who are both trainee goalkeepers with West Ham.