England and German football armies honour wartime truce match in Games of Remembrance

Two football matches in Nottingham on Thursday, November 8, will commemorate the centenary of the end of the Great War.

Notts County’s Meadow Lane stadium will host a match between the British Army and German Army women’s teams at 12noon, with the men’s teams meeting at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground at 7pm.

The matches are a nod to the Christmas Day truce of 1914 as the bloody violence of trench warfare was temporarily suspended when men from both sides emerged from the trenches and met in No Man’s Land to exchange gifts, sing carols and play football.

One of the casualties of the Great War was Strawson Lievsley Wilson, the son of Mansfield Mayor John Lievesley and Mary Wilson. He was badly wounded and died in a field hospital not far from the trenches. Strawson was 27 and had been married for just six months. He captained Mansfield Mechanics football team and played several times for Sheffield Wednesday.

Councillor Keith Girling, armed forces champion at Nottingham County Council, said: “The Games of Remembrance give us an opportunity to come together, through sport and the spirit of sportsmanship and remembrance.”

As well as the football in Nottingham tomorrow, there will be fan zones, live music, military displays and appearances by sporting legends.

Adult prices start at £5 with concessionary and family ticket options. For details, visit www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/nottsremembers.