A life lived for football was celebrated in Dundee with mourners from both sides of the Atlantic gathering in memory of Peter McAvoy.
Relatives, friends, team-mates and coaches paid tribute to the 22-year-old football star in an occasion filled with emotion.
They hoisted their scarves and applauded the former Craigie High pupil who collapsed and died after suffering a heart attack at his college flat in New York State last month.
Peter, America’s junior college player of the year, went to the US to pursue a career in the game after playing for Arbroath SC and Tayport juniors.
Humanist celebrant Brenda Reid told Tuesday’s audience in the Woodlands Hotel: “The sad irony of his life is that he was born on Saturday August 17 1991 just before kick-off time.
“He died on Saturday April 19 2014 just before 5pm, around the time of the final whistle in a football match.”See more photos from the Woodlands by clicking hereShe continued: “Peter had a short life but not a wasted one.”
His cheerful nature, ready smile and especially in football his natural enthusiasm made him popular and a friend to many.
Graham Ritchie, who coached Peter’s St Joseph’s team in Dundee, recalled his prodigious talent which flourished in many of the team’s successes.
Testimonials were also given by his friends Ryan Valentine, Darryl Gowans and Jamie McRobbie, and finally by Pepe Aragon, coach of Herkimer Generals, Peter’s US college team.
Pepe said Peter’s talents on the pitch an inspirational defender who could venture up field and score goals were admired by many.
He was also developing into a gifted coach, and Pepe said he would never forget the Dundonian’s infectious Scottish accent “not that I could always understand what he was saying,” he quipped.
The moving celebration ended with the mourners rising to their feet, and cherishing Peter’s memory with the game’s best-known anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Peter is survived by his father, also Peter, mother Anne and sister Jillian.