Hundreds of fans march through city as Blues pay tribute to Arthur Labinjo-Hughes
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Birmingham City paid tribute to Arthur Labinjo-Hughes before the home game against Cardiff City on Saturday (11 December) while hundreds of fans marched through the city centre to pay their respects.
Six-year-old football fan Arthur died at the hands of his cruel step-mother and father.
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Hide AdHis stepmother Emma Tustin has been jailed for life - with a minimum of 29 years - after she was found guilty of murder on 3 December.
His father, Thomas Hughes was jailed for 21 years after being convicted of his son’s manslaughter.
Little Arthur grew up supporting Birmingham City and the club has a number of lasting tributes in place to honour his life which were revealed before the club’s 2-2 draw against Cardiff.
Fans march for Arthur
Hundreds of Blues fans marched through Digbeth on Saturday before arriving at St Andrew’s where wreaths and flowers were laid in his memory.
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Hide AdAs they marched through the city centre, the fans sang ‘we love you Arthur, we do’, before the club’s first home game since the six-year-old’s killers were jailed.
Birmingham City pay tribute
Two memorial bricks will be cemented into the club’s stadium in a lasting tribute to little Arthur - and a giant flag with his picture on was also unveiled in the lower Kop of St Andrew’s before kick-off.
During the match, a minute’s applause was held in the sixth minute while Arthur’s photo was shown on the big screen.
And in another touching tribute, City has also renamed its family zone to Arthur’s Area.
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Hide AdArthur’s Area will be a fun-filled space for young supporters to enjoy prior to kick-off, and planned activities will be arranged on a match-by-match basis with information points installed by local children’s charities to help tackle child abuse.
Blues have also been contacted by local stencil artist Disney, who recently sprayed a touching tribute to Arthur in the city, and he has offered to donate his talent to the area, creating designs in the new Arthur’s Area to ensure his memory lives on.
Memorial garden in place
Plans are also in place to create a memorial garden in Arthur’s name at St. Andrew’s.
Blues will share the designs with supporters when they have been finalised and the programme for the game against Cardiff also honoured Arthur on the front cover – with £1 from every sale being donated to children’s charities in Birmingham.
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Hide AdThe club also confirmed that further plans to honour Arthur are in place and will be revealed in the coming days.
Birmingham will also be reaching out to Arthur’s family, and work with them to decide which charities the family would like the club to support.
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