Aston Villa and Cardiff City will make this classy touch in Peter Whittingham memorial match

Aston Villa have announced that the Peter Whittingham memorial fixture with Cardiff City will be halted in the seventh minute to allow for those in attendance to pay their respects. The club announced the classy touch on Monday, two days ahead of the game on November 30.

Whittingham, who started his senior career with Villa between 2003 and 2007, tragically died in March 2020 at the age of just 35. He suffered a traumatic head injury after falling down the stairs in a “drunken play fight” with friends at a pub in Barry, South Wales, an inquest was told last year.

Having spent 11 days at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, Whittingham failed to regain consciousness and passed away on March 18, 2020. The news rocked the footballing world and there were countless tributes made by Whittingham’s supporters, former clubs and ex-teammates.

Now, two and a half years later, supporters will be able to pay their tributes to the boyhood Villa fan at the memorial match. Kicking off at 7.30pm, the game will be played at the Cardiff City Stadium with all proceeds going to the PW7 Foundation.

Whittingham, who played predominantly as a winger, made 567 career club appearances at a senior level, scoring 98 goals and contributing 96 assists. He played 66 times for Villa and donned the Cardiff colours on 457 occasions.