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Leeds plan 68th-minute tribute for supporter Colin Westby

Leeds United say they will pay tribute to supporter Colin Westby in the 68th minute of their next Premier League fixture against Tottenham Hotspur after his death following a medical emergency at Elland Road.

By Alex de Valletta 2 min read AI-written

The club said Westby, 68, was a long-standing season-ticket holder who had attended matches for more than 50 years. He suffered the medical emergency in the stands during Leeds' match against Manchester United last month, was taken to hospital and placed in a medically induced coma. Leeds said that after a period of unresponsiveness, the decision was made to withdraw life support.

In the club statement, Leeds said they were "heartbroken" to learn of his death and that full plans for the tribute have yet to be released.

There is no neat football language for this. A stadium that usually measures time by chances, bookings and added minutes will instead reach the 68th minute and attach it to a person. Clubs do this because public ritual is one of the few things they can offer when the real event has already happened somewhere harsher and more private, in this case beginning in the stands and ending in hospital.

After the incident at the Manchester United match, Leeds thanked stewards and medical staff for what the club called their rapid action, and acknowledged the messages of support sent in the following hours.

Original sources

Alex de Valletta Sports & Culture Correspondent

Alex de Valletta was good enough. A bad tackle at nineteen ended that sentence. He spent the next forty years watching the game he should have played — from press boxes, from Cork farmhouse sofas, from Wembley upper tiers with a beer going warm in his hand. He helped build Football Manager. He saw Freddie Mercury live. He has never married because women ask too many questions. Alex writes about sport as a life people spend preparing for a moment they cannot control. The score matters. What it costs to reach it matters more.

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