Flybe add The Adam Stansfield to their fleet of aircraft.

Below is Tom Bevan's report from the Express and Echo about Flybe naming one of their aircraft after Adam:

Family delighted with Flybe plane tribute to Adam Stansfield
By Tom Bevan

EXETER City's number nine Adam Stansfield was terrified of flying.

On long away days he would battle to overcome his fears but would have rather caught the team bus, his family said. And they say the 31-year-old, who lost his battle to bowel cancer last year, would have had a "cheeky grin" on his face after he become a permanent fixture in the sky. Yesterday, during a joyous and emotional ceremony at Exeter International Airport, he became only the fourth person to have a plane named after them in Flybe's "footballing fleet." He is joining illustrious company, with George Best in Belfast, Matt Le Tissier in Southampton and Kevin Keegan in Newcastle, previously having been recognised in this way. His widow Marie, in the company of their three children Jay, Taylor and Cody, unveiled the Q400 aircraft that featured a striking image of the Grecians' legend in action alongside his name. Shortly afterwards, the Adam Stansfield embarked on its maiden flight to Belfast with Adam's brother Wayne among its passengers. Wayne said: "Adam would have had a bit of a giggle about this as he really was quite scared of flying. Many times he would have liked to have gone on the team bus with the kit. But he overcame that like he overcame so much else in his life. He will be looking down with a sly grin on his face. "We flew in from Belfast with my wife and five children this morning and to return on the first flight of this aircraft will be a real honour and something very special. "The love we have felt from everyone has been unbelievable and this is just another example of that." The sentiments were echoed by Adam's mother Glynis who said: "It is so amazing and I really don't know what Adam would have made of it. Every time I think about it I have a silly grin on my face. "It is a huge thing for the family. We go and visit Wayne and his family in Belfast quite a lot and, hopefully, at some stage, we will be able to fly on it. That would be amazing." Joining the large gathering of Adam's family for the unveiling were several players and members of staff from Exeter City including Steve Perryman, Marcus Stewart, Steve Tully, Matt Taylor and Richard Logan. Speaking on behalf of the club, chairman Julian Tagg said: "This is a very fitting tribute to Adam and his family. Most of the fans of all the teams he played for would not have come across a player who put so much effort in. It would be a privilege for the team to fly in it at some stage. I don't know what its schedule would be but it would be nice if that came to fruition." Simon Lilley, director of marketing for Flybe, said the plane would be based primarily in Exeter and would be flown across the UK and sometimes into France. He said: "We only name aircraft after genuine local sporting icons and he is joining a wonderful, legendary group of sportsmen. But Adam is a genuinely true local hero." Flybe will hold a week of collections on the aircraft in aid of the Adam Stansfield Foundation which has been set up to help youth football in Devon and Somerset.

Source: www.thisisexeter.co.uk

Bristol Rovers Director Walks For The Foundation

We are very pleased to advertise yet another very generous act by Bristol Rovers Director Ken Masters. Details of what Ken is aiming to achieve are shown in the official press release below. If you can help Ken with accomodation in any way or want to join him along the way please get in touch with Kirsty at the email address listed below. Huge thanks to Ken for attempting this and thanks in advance to anyone that can help him out along the way.


Rovers director Ken Masters will be taking part in a gruelling West Country walk to raise money for charity.

At the end of March Ken will be walking between Bristol Rovers, Yeovil Town and Exeter City in memory of Adam Stansfield.

The Adam Stanfield Football Foundation has been set-up to support and encourage participation in youth football across the South West region.

The Foundation has been formed in memory of Adam who died on August 10 last year at the age of just 31 from bowel cancer.

The walk will coincide with Rovers visit to Yeovil on April 2nd and Exeter’s trip to the Memorial Stadium on April 9th.

Ken, whose wife has recently recovered from a major bowel operation, has wanted to do something to raise money for the Foundation for some time.

When he realised that Rovers were playing two of Adam’s former teams in consecutive weeks, he decided that a walk around the West Country would be the perfect challenge.

Ken, 66, who has completed a number of running events over the years, wanted to do something that would provide him with a challenge.

He said: “This will be a big challenge, but it is for a very good cause.

“I was touched by the tragic death of Adam, who was struck down at such a young age, and wanted to do something in his memory.

“I am also heavily involved with the youth and community departments at Bristol Rovers, so I was also keen to do something that would benefit youth football in the South West.

“The fact that we were playing two of Adam’s former teams in consecutive weeks seemed like too good an opportunity to turn down.

“I have already begun my training and been on a number of 10K walks to get myself warmed up. I am expecting to walk between 15 and 20 miles a day when I get going on the journey.”

Ken will be setting off from Bristol on March the 30th and heading for Huish Park. He will then go from Yeovil down to Exeter and hopes to make it to St James Park on April 4th.

After meeting with members of the Adam Stansfield Foundation and Exeter City, Ken will begin the final leg of the journey – back to the Memorial Stadium in time for kick off on April 9th.

Berkley Coaches have kindly donated a mini bus to follow Ken on his journey, but he is now looking for supporters of all three clubs who can put him up on his walk around the West Country.

Because of time restraints, Ken will actually be walking past Yeovil and going back for the game, to give him more time to complete the next step of the journey in time.

He is currently looking for accommodation in and around; Chard on the Friday night(April 1st), Honiton on the Saturday, Exeter on the Sunday, Cullompton on the Monday, Taunton on the Tuesday, Highbridge on the Thursday and Weston-super-Mare on the Friday.

Ken said: “I would like to thank Berkley Coaches for donating the transport, because without them, this journey would not be possible.

“I would also like to appeal to any fans living along my proposed route that could offer me a bed for the night. I don’t fancy having to sleep by the side of the road.”

And although Ken will be embarking on the challenge alone, he would be grateful for any company along the way.

He said: “I don’t expect anyone to come on this journey with me, but if anyone out there wanted to do one leg of the trip, or even just a few miles, then I would be very pleased to have some company.”

Ken is hoping to link up with a couple of branches of the Bristol Rovers Supporters Club and hold fundraising evenings along the way. More details of this will be announced nearer the time.

Andy Cole, Chairman of the Adam Stansfield Foundation said “We are all very moved by the number of people wanting to raise funds for Adams foundation; we would like to thank Ken for his support and wish him luck with this challenge”.

A Just Giving page will be set up shortly for those wishing to donate to the cause, but in the meantime, anyone who would like to offer donations or a bed for the night should contact Kirsty Pugh at the club on 0117 9542003 or email kirstypugh@bristolrovers.co.uk

Around The Grounds for Stanno

Really excited and proud to advertise this monumental effort that Adam Wright, a Hereford United fan is undertaking to raise money for the Foundation. Adam is currently a driver down for this task. If you feel you would like to be a part of this or would be able to help out in any way please get in touch at enquiries@adamstansfieldfoundation.com Any help would be greatly appreciated and thanks again to Adam and the guys for attempting this mammoth task. Below is Adam's take on what the team are doing

Around the grounds in 80 hours

Like so many others, we were deeply sadden to learn of the passing of Adam Stansfield last august. A hero and work horse on the pitch, and a gentleman off it, although never having known him, we felt like we had lost a brother. As a Hereford United fan, it is easy to imagine the league football we have enjoyed these past 4 seasons would not have been possible without Adams contribution. 25 goals in 2 seasons, and the most sublime of crosses for the equaliser during the playoff final, as well as yet another tireless shift, propelled the club back into the football league. I kept a loose eye on his time at Exeter also, and was impressed, (though not surprised) by the love he quickly earned from the St James faithful. His death made us think. He gave us so much, what could we give back.

We quickly learned of the Adam Stansfield Foundations formation, and it inspired us. Myself and my Bristol City supporting Step-father Steve concocted a plan. Steve had been reading the literary classic "around the world in 80 days", and from there, we developed the concept of "around the grounds in 80 hours". Like Ronseal - we wanted to do exactly that. Visit all 92 Barclays Premier and N-Power football league clubs in an 80 hour period. Had it been done before? Who knows. Google showed us a group that had done it in 5 days, and even a group that did it in 92 hours. We may even be unique in what we are attempting, but we cant prove it.

Our mission plan was simple. Visit each ground, pull up, take a photograph and then depart. We thought we would let every club know what we were doing, as a courteous way of asking for permission. As a fan of the Bulls, i decided to let Hereford United know first. I was most pleasantly surprised when one evening i returned home to find an email from HUFC vice chairman Tim Russon, offering us full support and signed merchandise to raffle for the cause. This got us thinking about just what we could actually achieve, and a further 91 emails were sent out. Many clubs have responded, offering us shirts, balls tickets and many other things, and we will hold several auctions after we have collected everything.

In homage to the original Jules Verne Novel, and to keep a theme, we are going to both start and finish at Edgar Street, Hereford. We are departing at 4.00 am from Hereford on Wednesday march the 9Th, and heading immediately to Swansea. We are hitting the 2 welsh clubs, following which we are diving into Bristol, and heading south to Exeter. We will hit the southern clubs from here, and travel along the cost, before circling around and entering London. From there we are into Essex and Norfolk, before coming into the East Midlands. Then we head north into Yorkshire, before hitting the North East, Carlisle, and then dropping down into Lancashire and Mersyside. We will then enter the West Midlands before circling down to Oxford, Swindon Cheltenham before finally arriving in Hereford, where we intend to attend the HUFC v Barnet home league match. We aim to be in Hereford by 10am Saturday march 12Th. If anyone would like to meet us on route at their clubs ground, we are happy to arrange this with you.

We currently only have a 3 man team, 2 of which are driving. Therefore, we have a space for a spare driver should anyone be interested. Requirements are that you have a full license, and can insure yourself to drive, as well as contribute to fuel and food costs. For more information please email aroundthegroundsin80hours@hotmail.co.uk

Should anyone wish to sponsor us (and please do) then email a pledged amount to aroundthegroundsin80hours@hotmail.co.uk FAO Adam. We will then send out details of how you can get the money to us and the foundation. A small contribution will also be made to Peterborough charity the free kicks foundation for their wonderful help and support in this venture.

Adam Wright

Website Launched

Very proud that as of 1pm today the Official Foundation website was launched. Cannot thank Chris McClenaghan enough for all his efforts on this. There have been plenty of late nights and we have been truly blessed to have such a talented individual working on this. The website will continue to grow as the foundation grows over time and we feel sure that it will be an invaluable tool to keep you up to date with any Foundation news. We hope you like it and here is the official press release that has gone out today:

Adam Stansfield Foundation – Website Kicks-Off

After several months careful planning and preparation the Trustees who include several members of Adams family of the ‘Adam Stansfield Foundation’ are pleased to announce that the eagerly awaited website will go live from 1pm on Friday 4th February 2011. Andy Cole chairman of the Foundation said “We are all very proud and excited by the development of this site and we would also like to thank Chris McClenaghan who has worked so hard with Adams brother Wayne on producing such a professional and high quality website. Along with our Facebook page we will now be able to communicate much easier with our supporters and Adams fans plus we can also get the very important message out to people about bowel cancer”. Patron of the foundation and Premiership Referee Mark Halsey added “This is another step forward for the Foundation; cancer awareness is being promoted through the Foundation whilst offering support to young people playing football”.

The unprecedented support following Adam’s death in August 2010, led to the creation of the Adam Stansfield Foundation. Chosen specifically to recognise aspects of Adam’s life, football and to raise awareness on bowel cancer related issues the aims of the foundation are to help give young people the unique opportunity to develop life skills through the power of football and to assist them in their goals of living the dream. Adams brother Wayne Stansfield who had the initial idea of the Foundation said “Working with Chris and the Trustees has given me a great deal of purpose, being able to focus on this website and the content has allowed me the chance to try and make sense of what happened. The journey to today has had its testing times; I found writing the biography and testimonials very hard. With the launch of this site we can really start to drive things forward and making the foundation work to support youth football and if through promoting bowel cancer awareness we are able to help save one life then we will have achieved something very special”.

The website can be found at http://www.adamstansfieldfoundation.com where visitors to the site will be able to access information on Adams life and career, upcoming fundraising events, media and very soon, the ability to donate online.