"Even now, more than 18 months on, it has still not fully sunk in. I see little Freddie growing up and it hits me so hard." Chris Hitchcock is talking about the loss of his son James, a goalkeeper for non-league Barton Town, who died after a single punch to the head in an unprovoked attack. James, a popular team-mate known as 'Hitchy' to family and friends, was killed in December 2024, just before he was about to spend his first Christmas as a father following the birth of Freddie six months earlier.
His death not only devastated his family, but it left a tight-knit football club in mourning. "Until you start speaking about it again... it almost doesn't feel real," says Anthony Bowsley, manager of Lincolnshire part-timers Barton. The day before the attack, James had pulled off a fine save in a 1-1 draw with Bottesford Town in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division.
"As he was coming off, I said to him 'great save Nigel Martyn' because Hitchy was a Leeds fan and he had a little chuckle to himself," says Bowsley. The following day, the former Leeds United academy player, 32, was struck from behind at York Railway Station on his way back from a day out with friends. On Saturday, his widow, April, and son Freddie, now aged two, will be at Barton Town's FA Cup third qualifying round home tie with Chorley - one of the biggest matches in the ninth-tier club's history.
April, who married James in July 2022, says being around the football club where he used to play brings comfort after the unimaginable loss of her husband. "It's really sad looking at where James used to stand in goal and saying 'where is he?'" April, 32, tells BBC Sport. You don't believe something like that could happen to one of your mates," Barton Town defender Jack Bulless says.
Bulless, who also played with James at Bridlington Town, should have been part of the group on the day trip to York but pulled out due to illness. Andy Norfolk, a long-time friend and team-mate, did join James and their friends. "I remember the Manchester derby being on television in the bars we visited," says Norfolk.
"It was an annual Christmas get-together, a day trip, nothing too heavy. We arrived back at the station to go home early. "I ended up getting a taxi back to Hull as the train was not for another hour.
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