SAD DAY BUT HUGE TURN OUT FOR FUNERAL OF SPORTSWRITER RAY MATTS

Hundreds packed into the funeral this afternoon for much loved and respected sportswriter Ray Matts,who wrote football and Formula 1 for the Daily Mail.Mattsy as he was called most of his life,was a lovely,great character who made us all laugh and could disarm any situation.He died recently,just a couple of weeks after his lively 70th birthday party.It was standing room only at Streetly in the West Midlands..and then several lines deep.Among the mourners joining his family and many friends were famous names from football and the media including Ron Atkinson,who spoke,Martin O'Neill,Trevor Francis,Brian Little,Brendan Batson,and former players of his beloved WBA including the FA Cup winning team.His best man and closest friend Jeff Farmer also spoke.The Formula One stars would have been there but for the weekend's Grand Prix in Australia.