A goalkeeper who died days after suffering terrible injuries during a game has been honoured with a memorial service in his home town.

Jimmy Thorpe was repeatedly kicked in the head and body while keeping goal for Sunderland against Chelsea in 1936.

The 22-year-old, who had been tipped for England honours, died in a diabetic coma in hospital four days later.

Members of his family, including his son, who barely remembers him, yesterday attended a memorial service, 70 years to the day since his death.

Witnesses to the incident, at Roker Park on February 1, 1936, said the goalkeeper was deathly white and shaken after the incident.

An inquest ruled he died from diabetes accelerated by his injuries, but subsequent inquiries by police and football authorities did not lead to any players facing charges.

The incident during the match, which ended in a 3-3 draw, went largely unreported at the time.

A match report in The Northern Echo said merely that the match had been "unlucky" for the goalkeeper and blamed him for letting in all three goals.

His obituary in the newspaper four days later remarked that he had taken "one or two heavy knocks".

A service in memory of "a sporting gentleman of the town" was held yesterday at Christ Church, in Jarrow, South Tyneside.

Mr Thorpe's son, Ronnie, was two when his father died.

He said: "Everything I know about my dad I have been told by someone else.

"I am still learning about him now because people come up to me and say 'I remember your dad in his playing days. He used to do this, he used to do that'.

"I am amazed that it has kept this level of interest after all this time. People have also told me that they were at the game when it all happened. It's all very emotional."

James Horatio Thorpe made 139 appearances for Sunderland and thousands lined the streets of Jarrow for his funeral.

Sunderland won the league that year and his replacement in goal, Johnny Mapson, gave Mr Thorpe's league winners medal to his widow, Elizabeth May.

For many years his body laid in an unmarked grave, but a headstone has now been erected on the plot.

A plaque in honour of his memory has also been installed at Sunderland's home ground, The Stadium of Light.

Yesterday's service was attended by former Sunderland footballers Bobby Kerr and Jimmy Montgomery, and Black Cats vice-chairman John Fickling.

Reverend David Osman, who led the service, said: "People talked about him being a gentleman with a great sense of duty and professionalism in the game.

"This was supposed to be one of the most violent games of its day, but when you look back through history no one was called to account."

He said the service had been an opportunity for people to reflect on what happened and his family had been very moved.