A football club has released a statement following the death of their 15-year-old player who drowned in a lake on Friday afternoon.
Emergency crews were called to Beckenham Place Park in south-east London shortly after 3pm on Friday to search for Izaiah Smith, 15, who had gone missing in the lake.
Crews found Izaiah’s body in the water around eight hours later at 10:42pm, after which the teenager was taken to hospital but later pronounced dead.
It is understood that Smith had been out celebrating the start of the Easter holidays when he got into difficulty swimming, with fears that he may have gone into cold water shock.
Taking to social media on Sunday afternoon, Dorking Wanderers posted a statement in tribute to the youngster.
It read: ‘We are absolutely devastated to learn of the passing of one of our young footballers – Izaiah Smith. It is of course impossible to find the words to explain what a tragedy this is.
Emergency crews were called to Beckenham Place Park in south-east London shortly after 3pm on Friday to search for Izaiah Smith, 15, who had gone missing in the lake
The scene inside Beckenham Park Place on Friday after Smith went missing
In response to the post, other clubs left their own tributes to the player
‘Izaiah was a hugely popular and talented young man and will be sorely missed by all that knew him.
‘The club will provide support for all involved in whatever way we possibly can.
‘In the meantime all of our thoughts are with his family, friends and teammates at this incredibly difficult time’.
In response to the post, other clubs left their own tributes to the player.
A post from Slough Town FC read: ‘Our thoughts are with Izaiah’s family, friends and everyone at Dorking Wanderers’.
Another reply from Woking FC stated: ‘Everyone at Woking Football Club sends our thoughts and prayers to Izaiah’s friends and family’.
A further tribute to Izaiah came in from Horsham FC, reading: ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with Izaiah’s family, friends and everyone at Dorking Wanderers.’
