FRIENDS OF A young Irish man who was killed in a hit-and-run in the UK last week have asked Aston Villa Football Club to hold a minute silence in his honour on St Stephen’s Day.

Jody O’Reilly described himself as as “die-hard Villa fan” and had plans to go to go see his team take on Manchester United last Sunday at Villa Park. Tragically, he never made it. He was hit by a car in the early hours of the same morning on Broad Street in Birmingham.

Originally from Leixlip in county Kildare, the 22-year-old had moved to the UK to study PE at the University of Wolverhampton. He also worked as a duty manager at a British gym chain.

His friend, Paul Field, told TheJournal.ie that the campaign was launched as they want to fulfil his dream of having a minute silence at his beloved club when his time came.

“The coming together of the family and friends of those who knew Jody has truly been remarkable and we are currently on the right track to make the minutes silence happen,” he said.

“We are in contact with the right people but still need as much help as possible. We genuinely need all the help we can get for this amazing show of respect for an amazing person, to happen.”

The group has also asked for support for the grief-stricken family over the holiday period.

Currently, there are more than 10,000 members of the Facebook group and

Footballer Stan Collymore has joined the campaign, tweeting:

The Facebook page can be viewed here.

West Midlands Police arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with the hit-and-run.

(YouTube: Stephen McQ)

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