Everton and Ipswich fans pay tribute to Noah Woods as fundraiser hits £100k

A tribute to three-year-old Noah Woods was shown on the big screen ahead of the Everton v Ipswich Town Premier League match, while players wore black armbands in his memory.

The toddler became separated from a relative after visiting a playground in Merriam Close, Brantham, on Tuesday afternoon, Suffolk Police said.

Around 1,300 members of the public joined a search to find Noah, who police said was non-verbal, partially deaf and had been undergoing an assessment for autism.

Met Police divers recovered his body from a lake, known locally as Decoy Pond, on Wednesday afternoon and Suffolk Police said his death was not being treated as suspicious.

A JustGiving page set up by Good Dads Club, a community of fathers based in Colchester, Essex, had received more than £100,000 in donations from a total of more than 6,000 supporters by Saturday evening.

On Saturday, a photo of Noah was shown on the big screen ahead of the game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool.

And three minutes into the game, both sets of supporters stood to applaud in memory of Noah, Everton said in a post on X.

Town defender Leif Davis donated £2,000 to the fundraising appeal set up to support Noah’s family and captain Dara O’Shea and goalkeeper Christian Walton were among the club delegation who laid flowers at the playground where he went missing.

A fundraiser in memory of Noah Woods has raised more than £100,000 (Family Handout/Suffolk Police/PA)

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On Thursday, Noah’s father Rhys Woods paid tribute to his son in a message shared on a community Facebook group.

He wrote: “There are no words to describe the pain of this loss, we are all absolutely heartbroken, Noah was the sweetest and most innocent little boy, with nothing but love to give, and we are going to miss him so very much.”

Suffolk Police said on Thursday that the body of the child recovered by police divers had been formally identified as Noah Woods, aged three and from Brantham, subject to confirmation at formal inquest proceedings.

The force said that his death was not being treated as suspicious but that police still have a number of inquiries to complete before submitting a file for the coroner.