New Ipswich football club after 'shock' kidney diagnosis

Mark Wilson, who lives near Norwich Road, launched the new adult team after his son Jeremy was suddenly rushed to hospital in December, after a blood test showed abnormalities in kidney function.

He said the new Brooks Hall Rovers Football Club has given the 26-year-old something to play for after the experience.

The Christian ethos club is appealing for new players to join its training sessions, before hoping for approval into the league in September.

Jeremy, who is a secondary school teacher in Suffolk, was diagnosed with autoimmune disease IgA nephropathy, which led to stage three kidney failure.

Jeremy Wilson said the team has given him a focus. (Image: NQ staff)

Mark said: “He has to go to dialysis three times a week for four hours, and it makes him very tired.

“We have had experience in running a football club and we had been thinking about starting one in Ipswich, and then Jeremy became ill, and it was harder for him to do the things he had been doing.

“He was a competitive powerlifter. The diagnosis was quite a shock.

“I am very proud of him, and he has taken it so well. The experience hasn’t phased him. He’s very resilient.”

Jeremy said: "The guys are really good, and it's given me a focus after having to give up other things."

Jeremy competed at the BDFPA Eastern Counties Single Lift Championships last February. (Image: Contributed)

Mark added that the club is named after Brookes Hall, a house off Norwich Road which was moved to Somerset brick-by-brick in the 1930s.

He said: "I found it very interesting, the idea that its owner transported it all that way because he didn't like the idea of Valley Road being built.”

The club currently trains at Ormiston Academy on Defoe Road from 7pm to 9pm every Thursday, hoping to join the Suffolk and Ipswich League.

There is also a youth team for players aged 15 to 17. If you would like to join, contact Mark, club chairman, on 07504 504313 or email: brookshallrovers@outlook.com