Family and friends will take part in a football match in memory of an Abingdon schoolboy who died a year ago today after a car crash.

The memorial game is being organised by firefighter Bob Paterson to commemorate and celebrate the life of his son Dale, nicknamed Sparky because he was so energetic.

Thirteen-year-old Dale, who lived in Abingdon, died in hospital on August 18, 2005, three days after a crash in Italy while holidaying with his mother Helen and younger brother, Jack.

Dale's father, a watch manager at Oxford's Rewley Road fire station, is organising the football match with Dale's older brother Jon, 20. It will take place at Abingdon United Football Club, in Northcourt Road, Abingdon, from 2pm on Sunday, September 3, a year and a day after Dale's funeral.

Earlier this year, driver Richard Bianchini, from Cowley, Oxford - Dale's mother's boyfriend - received an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for five years, and was disqualified from driving for five months. He was over the drink drive limit at the time of the crash.

Mr Paterson said: "My colleagues will be playing in one team against a team captained by Jon. Everyone taking part knew Dale and are doing it in his memory.

"The last year has been very hard, but it's because of people like this that I've gone on. I've had so much support and I'm very grateful for it."

Dale was a football fan and Mr Paterson is inviting his friends from John Mason School, Abingdon, and anyone who knew him to watch the match. The winning team will receive the Dale Paterson Memorial Trophy.

Mr Paterson, who will play in his son's team, is also using the event to launch his bid to cycle more than 1,000 miles across the country from Land's End to John O'Groats in June 2007.

He will be stopping at fire stations along the way and is planning the ride to raise awareness about importance of wearing seatbelts. He believes Dale may not have been properly wearing his belt at the time of the crash. As a firefighter, he has also seen first-hand the consequences of not wearing a seatbelt.

Mr Paterson said: "I'm hoping to get schools involved along the way to make children aware of these tragic consequences. The problem is not just not wearing a seatbelt, but also wearing them incorrectly."

Mr Paterson is part of Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service's 365 Alive campaign aimed at cutting the number of deaths on Oxfordshire's roads and in fires by 365 in the next 10 years. The initiative - backed by the Oxford Mail - will see firefighters targeting young people and motorists with shock tactics and images when the initiative is launched in October.