Manchester United are set to honour PC Matthew Blades, a police officer killed in a tragic road collision on Teesside last month, when they host Ipswich at Old Trafford on Sunday in the Premier League.

The club has paid tribute to Blades in its match-day programme, describing him as "a proud Red, a devoted family man and a police officer who dedicated his life to helping others." His widow and their children will attend the fixture, with his two sons leading the Manchester United players out onto the pitch as mascots.

A life of service

PC Blades and his colleague PC Tom Clough lost their lives in a head-on collision on the A66 near Middlesbrough in the early hours of 22 August. Their police car was struck by a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction. Five occupants of the other car — Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and Cole Robert Worthy, 17 — also died in the crash.

Manchester United said they received news of the two officers' deaths "with great sadness."

Beyond his duties as an officer, Blades was a junior football coach at Seaton Carew FC and FC Hartlepool. Supporters at both clubs gathered this past weekend to pay their respects to him.

Tributes across the north-east

On Saturday, a minute's applause was held ahead of Middlesbrough's Championship fixture against West Brom at Riverside Stadium, where photographs of both officers were displayed on a large screen. The gesture was widely observed by fans in attendance.

Investigators have made significant progress in the case. By earlier this week, 24 people had been arrested in total in connection with the crash — 17 of those arrests coming in the days leading up to the weekend.