Birmingham have dedicated Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Plymouth as their first annual “Arthur’s Memorial Matchday” in memory of murdered six-year-old Blues fan Arthur Labinjo-Hughes.
The team will wear commemorative shirts with an “Arthur 6” kit printed on them, which will then be auctioned in aid of the NSPCC. A portion of matchday programme sales will also go to the children’s charity.
A club statement announced: “Funds will also go to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where staff worked tirelessly to help the young Arthur.
“Each year at the Arthur Memorial Matchday, an executive box will also be donated to a local children’s care home for the carers and young people to use and enjoy a game in a unique way.”
💙 Blues will be honouring Arthur Labinjo-Hughes every year by dedicating the home matchday closest to his birthday to the memory of the young boy.— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) January 6, 2022
Arthur was killed in June 2020 and a trial in November and December 2021 saw his stepmother Emma Tustin jailed for life, with a minimum 29-year term, for murder and his father Thomas Hughes for 21 years for manslaughter.
Their sentences have since been referred to the Court of Appeal after attorney general Suella Braverman deemed them too lenient.
Birmingham, along with many other clubs, paid tribute in the sixth minute of their following home game.
The family zone at the club’s St Andrew’s ground has since been renamed Arthur’s Area and the memorial matchday will take place each year at the home game closest to what would have been his birthday, January 4.
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