YOUNGSTERS from the Reading FC Academy marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One in their own special way.

Members of the Under 12s squad planted 15 trees at the new Bearwood training ground in honour of the 15 men who played for the club and lost their lives in the Great War.

Jack Huggins, Joe Dickenson, Herbert Stevens, Len Hawes, Edward 'Ginger' Mitchell, Charles West, Ben Butler, Alfred Hall, Norman Wood, Allen Foster, James Comrie, Alexander McCurdie, Fred Wheatcroft, Walter Tull and Herber Slatter had all pulled on a Reading FC shirt before they were killed fighting for their country.

Royals got together with The Woodland Trust and the Football Remembers campaign to find a way to make a lasting tribute.

Reading Football Club’s Former Players’ Association also lent a hand at Bearwood including board member Ron Grant, the club’s popular former kitman.

Each Academy player wore a Reading shirt bearing the name of one of the 15 fallen heroes.

England and West Ham legend, Sir Trevor Brooking, CBE, is involved in the initiative.

He said: “The Woodland Trust’s For Club and Country project is the perfect way to commemorate football’s important role in the First World War.

“By planting trees for players who bravely fought for their country we are creating something beautiful and long lasting for future generations.”

Almost every club sent players to the front between 1914 and 1918 and many never returned.

The Woodland Trust project ‘For Club and Country’ also remembers the women, who single-handedly kept the national game alive during the conflict, playing in front of hundreds of thousands of supporters.

Reading also paid tribute to those who died in World War II with former Reading player Frank Ibbotson's name also added to a shirt for the photo call.

Supporters can find out more about their club’s history and football’s involvement in the war by visiting www.forclubandcountry.org.uk/Reading

All clubs down to grassroots and community group level can be part of the First World War Centenary Woods project and plant trees to remember their members, players, friends and family involved in the conflict. Find out more about the Free Tree Pack offer at www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/freetrees