Apr 29 – Christian Wink Memorial Football Match
The Royal Gibraltar Regiment held a memorial football match in Devil’s Tower Camp today to honour their colleague Christian Wink. Christian joined the Regiment in 1997 and was 22 years old when he lost his life in a road traffic accident whilst on deployment to Jebel Sahara in 2001.
Christian’s biggest passion was football. He represented the Royal Gibraltar Regiment’s Football team on many occasions in the Gibraltar Services League but the match he enjoyed the most was the annual Officer and Senior ranks verses Junior ranks match.
Christian’s father Emilio Wink, who attends the memorial match every year, said: “I am so proud to be here today, it is fantastic that the whole Regiment remembers Christian in this way. Many of the soldiers here today have served with Christian but some have never met him, so I am particularly glad to see the new soldiers come along and remember him and carry on the tradition. I am very grateful to the Commanding Officer for bringing back the memory of Christian, he loved being in the Regiment, to him it was like family and he enjoyed every minute of his time with them.”
There were no surprises when the Junior ranks won the match, but a glimmer of hope was held by the Officers and Senior ranks at half time when the Juniors led with a score of 1-0. During the second half of the game, goals were coming thick and fast, and a final score of 5-2 meant victory once again for the Junior ranks.
Following the match Emilio presented the Man of the Match Trophy to Goalkeeper Colour Sergeant Phil Jessop before the Junior ranks were presented with the winning team trophy.
The memorial match is an important event in the Regimental calendar, Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Ivor Lopez knew Christian well and spoke fondly of him, he said: “Today we remember Christian Wink and look at what he did for the Regiment. Most of you will have served with Christian but for those of you who are new to the Regiment you should be aware that he was the type of individual who launched himself into everything that the Regiment required him to do. During his four years in the Regiment he was deployed to Kenya, Canada and volunteered for a tour of Northern Ireland. He was a truly committed soldier and it is very apt that we should remember him with a sport that he enjoyed so much.”
Pics: Emilio holds the Christian Wink Memorial Cup high and Emilio presenting the Man of the Match to CSgt Jessop.
{fcomment}
