Tranmere Rovers fan Nate Gidman was diagnosed with medulloblastoma in 2020, shortly before his fourth birthday. Despite undergoing months of gruelling high-dose chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, he died in February 2022.
Since his death, the annual Nate Gidman Memorial Match has been raising funds for CCLG with his parents, Phil and Nicola, determined to help other families of children with cancer.
They’ve been backed by support from Tranmere as a club and its fanbase, who took Nate into their hearts after Phil shared updates on his son’s cancer treatment on social media.
With many of the players involved being fellow fans of Tranmere, Nate’s match takes place yearly on the morning of the club’s closest home game to the anniversary of his death on February 7.
This year’s contest took place at New Ferry Park on February 15 before Tranmere faced MK Dons, with Nate’s Rovers coming out 7-3 winners against Sands United Ipswich, a team comprised of fathers impacted by baby loss.
Phil, originally from Birkenhead but now living in Lincoln, said he was “humbled” by the love and unity shown to him by those involved, and explained how the match – with this year’s being the fourth such fixture – allows him and Nicola to carry on Nate’s name while raising funds to support families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis in future.
He said:
Everyone talks about him and so they should. This is a key thing for a parent who has lost their child. They don't want their child to be forgotten, and they don't want the child's life nor death to be in vain. This game is all about remembrance and all about friendship. It's heart fuel. We always play against Sands United, a charity that focuses on baby loss, so there's some common ground there. And we play with members of the Wirral community, people from all walks of life. They come together, and we form Nate's Rovers. I’m incredibly grateful for how the players and the people who help run the fundraising still care that much that they want to support us in raising money for CCLG. On the pitch, Tranmere aren't having a great time, but all the football fans, all the players, they all came together and got behind this beautiful opportunity for some unity for a common good.
Phil said that he and Nicola continue to support CCLG as a charity that brings together experts and funds groundbreaking research to drive progress into finding better, kinder treatments, that will not only lead to improved outcomes for children and young people but also have less side effects.
He added:
Paediatric oncology is massively underfunded. We need a way to find better treatments. Every child deserves like a fair chance. We don't want kids to endure this disease anymore, if we can help them any which way we can, then that's important. Our story didn't have a happy ending, but it’s important to us that out of a sad time, that we can do some good not just as a family, but as a community. We're not doing this just for Nate, we're doing this for all the families that find themselves in this horrible situation, to offer support. We understand it all too well and I'd like to think that most of the people that get behind the game, they all understand it as well. We're doing this for better outcomes and for all the families that can feel lost. We can say, ‘you're not alone’.
Phil expressed his gratitude to everyone who supported the match and fundraising and spoke of his pride at being able to raise such a big amount for a charity close to his and Nicola’s heart.
He said:
I can't really put into words how flattered I am people would do that in Nate's memory. It's just a massive, massive thank you from me and Nicola to those very special and important people. There are so many people to thank. One person in particular, Lesley Murray, who year on year, always does so much with the fundraising, the raffling, and she puts in a lot of effort to try and generate as much money as we possibly can. Thank you to the players and volunteers, and everyone that gets behind them, the people that sponsored the players, the public who donated, the public who couldn’t afford to donate yet they still passed on the best wishes and shared our message. There’s a love that comes into it and a desire from people to want to make a difference.
Hannah Ortega, Community & Relationship Fundraising Executive at CCLG, said:
We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone involved in this incredible match to honour Nate’s lasting legacy. Their hard work, dedication and support is helping us to drive progress and change the future for children and young people with cancer.