Everton mourn death of young fan

The youngster was murdered in nearby Croxteth this week, and his death has shocked not only the Everton community but the entire nation.

Everton will honour the youngster with a minute's silence ahead of their Premier League match with Blackburn, and the players will all wear black armbands.

Croxteth is only a couple of miles from Goodison Park, and it has been revealed that it was the Everton players who insisted on the marks of respect that will be witnessed by millions on television today.

Ian Ross, the club's director of communications said: "This has really touched everyone deeply. We have held minute's silences here, sadly on a regular basis, over the last 12 months after losing several Evertonians from the armed forces in Iraq.

"This maybe is a little different. The decision to hold a minute's silence came first from within the dressing room before it had even been discussed at boardroom level.

"The players have been particularly touched by what they have heard and read, and in particular after the TV interview with Rhys' parents which was heartbreaking. Anybody who knows English football would tell you that we are a family-orientated club, and proud of it.

"And it digs deep when something like this happens. Footballers get a lot of bad press for the high wages they earn and their lifestyles. But it is interesting to see when you get a tragedy like this how deeply it does affect these people, most of them are family men with kids of their own.

"And they have done what everyone else has done in the country, and put themselves in the position of Melanie and Steve, Rhys' parents, and found it very difficult to cope with it."

Everton captain Phil Neville added: "Everyone at Everton, and the players especially, send our condolences to the Jones family after the tragic death of their son Rhys. We all here at the club have families of our own, and we cannot comprehend what you are going through."