Teenage footballer dies 'suddenly' age 19 as Warrington Town teammate leads emotional tributes

Brazilian footballer Vini Desouza had been climbing through the ranks of Warrington Town FC’s youth system. The foward grew up in Portugal before moving to Salford a decade ago.

He joined Warrington Town in 2019 and became an integral part of the club’s youth system. His cause of death remains unknown at this time, but there has been no indication of any prior illness.

Desouza’s teammates in the under-21 side stepped onto the pitch just 24 hours after learning of his death. The team dedicated their 4-1 victory against Macclesfield to him, with teammate Sam Gill leading the tributes.

Gill said: “Vini was a well-loved and much-valued player in our team. He grew into his character as his time at Warrington went on, and all of the lads had so much respect for him. He was an extremely talented footballer with so much ability, had a major impact coming in with us and consequently earning his space for training and playing matches with the first team.

“Vini is someone who will be missed dearly, both on the pitch and more importantly his character in the changing rooms and outside of football.

“We will all miss him, and we send our condolences to his family at this difficult time.”

A GoFundMe has been set up by the club to support Desouza’s family, which at the time of publication has received more than £13,000 in donations.

An official statement from Warrington Town FC added: “Scorer of the most spectacular goals, Vini was a well-respected, much-loved member of the club, and his ability earned him a place training with the first team despite his young age. He played for the first team last season in the Cheshire Senior Cup against Cheadle Town, and trained regularly with the first team, appearing in numerous pre-season friendlies over the past couple of seasons.”