Aston Villa in tribute to university student killed in hit-and-run
A minute's applause was being held today in memory of a University of Wolverhampton student killed in a hit-and-run in Birmingham city centre while he was on a night out.
Aston Villa fan Jody O'Reilly died after being struck by a car outside the Solomon Cutler pub in Broad Street.
A Facebook page was set up by his friends calling for the Premier League club to hold a minute's silence in tribute before today's game against Crystal Palace.
And the club has agreed to have a minute's applause instead in memory of Mr O'Reilly before the 3pm kick-off.
Tributes have been pouring in to 22-year-old Mr O'Reilly, who lived at the university's Walsall campus. Ritchie Ball, aged 23, set up the '1 Minute silence for Jody at the villa boxing day game' Facebook page', which currently has more than 12,000 members.
Today he described his friend Mr O'Reilly as the 'most popular man on campus'.
Mr Ball said: "He was due to move back to his hometown of Leixlip in Ireland and was out with his friends for one final time.
Mr O'Reilly's life was cut short when he was hit at 5.15am on December 15. A 21-year-old man from Bromford has been arrested by police on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
