Tom Rankin Dead at 26: Redditch United Devastated After Shock Death of Midfielder as Family Pay Tribute to ‘Best Son’

TRIBUTES have poured in following the news non-league footballer Thomas Rankin has sadly passed away at the age of 26.

The devastating news was announced by his team, sparking an outpouring of emotional messages.

A statement read: "Redditch United are devastated to hear of passing of midfielder Thomas Rankin.

"Tom has been with the Reds for the past three seasons and his loss will be felt by all at the Club.

The semi-professional club, who compete in The Southern League, most recently played AFC Rushden & Diamonds, who were quick to pay their respects.

They tweeted: "Having been with you all yesterday, We are devastated to read this awful news this afternoon.

Leamington, who Rankin briefly played for, added: "Our sincere condolences to everybody at Redditch and to Tom's friends and family.

"He played for us briefly upon our return to the National League North 5 years ago. A truly sad loss. Thoughts are with all who knew him."

Rankin, who is listed as aged 26 on Bromsgrove Sporting FC's website, was a graduate of Loughborough University.

She wrote: "Tom you are the best son, you have always made us so proud, you are our world.

"There are no words for how much we will miss you. You have achieved so much in your short life.

"We would give everything to have you back with us. Rest in Peace with all our love Mom and Dad."

Redditch United manager Matt Clarke tweeted: "Life is so precious people. We often take things for granted I know I do.

"In reality certain things really aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things.

"A special person left us today and words cannot describe how special this lad was."

You are telling me the people of Spokane hate John Stockton because he hasn't been vaccinated?

NBA legend John Stockton had his Gonzaga basketball season tickets suspended for failing to comply with the school’s mask mandates. Gonzaga’s rules say fans 12 and older are required to provide proof of coronavirus vaccination or a negative PCR test 72 hours before the start of a game. Masks must also be worn by fans over the age of 5.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/john-stockton-gonzaga-season-tickets-taken-away-mask-standoff

AFAIK, his jersey remains hanging from the rafters.

It's like one of my co-workers said, when she came back from vacation, visiting her parents in Western Washington:

"They're crazy up there, they freak out if you're not wearing a mask!" Down here in Texas, mask mandates have been frowned upon for at least 8 months.

There was also a fair amount of heated discussion on the GU Hoops Board. It was heavily weighted in favor of liberals along the West Coast. No surprise, Gonzaga's in Spokane. If one dared to offer a dissenting opinion, it was quashed in a hurry. I mean those "not following the science" were pariahs.

I was ripped by a few posters when I dared post a few photos I took after the Virginia-Gonzaga game in Fort Worth, 12/26/2020. They were sure that I was creating a potential super spreader event that would infect the entire team. Masks were pulled down long enough to take pictures and that was it.

They couldn't how dangerous we were down in Texas. My 11YO grandson was the first one at his school to not wear a mask when school opened last August. During this school year, there has not been a single report of Covid among the 500 children at that school. There was a handful of staff and teachers, but that was it.

That's more than just anecdotal evidence of the diminished threat to school age children.

I got Covid (for the second time) two months ago. That first week, I was really sick, dropped 30 pounds, very weak. My wife located an American Frontline doctor in McKinney. He prescribed IVM and HCQ, with two other meds...I was back to work the following Monday, still pretty weak, though.

Unh-unh, no jab for me, or my family.

Oh, relax. There are "IBT" comments on every thread where the subject matter is posted about again and again. These days, if ANY person passes away below the age of 50 someone writes an article about it. The not-so-subtle implication is that the vaccine caused it, and people on FR are all too eager to eat it up and declare it to be absolute truth even though they have no idea what actually happened.

So yes, I find the "it was the vax" comments trite and predictable. I'm so sorry if that offends you.

I would say the list is not that important, although interesting.

The numbers are the answer to the clot shot theory, but I have seen only a few general references to the numbers that count.

The number of deaths over the last 10 years vs the number of deaths during the past 12 months will give you the answer. The numbers for the past year by itself will not.

One list I saw was contaminated by deaths of players who had retired many years before.

Each list should include only those who died on the field or died under treatment of a health event on the field.

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