Jack Maddams should have been celebrating his 18th birthday this month.

Instead on Tuesday, April 8, friends and family attended his funeral service at the Garden of England Crematorium at Bobbing, near Sittingbourne.

More than 300 mourners arrived at the funeral service as the U2 song It’s a Beautiful Day filtered through the air. Many of those who knew Jack were unable to get inside the chapel for the hour long service but stood outside the doors despite the bitterly cold temperatures.

To the side an A3 picture was displayed of Jack smiling and lounging in an armchair wearing a Liverpool football shirt.

Messages attached to flowers underneath the picture read “There aren’t enough words to describe what a great person you were,” “You brought a ray of sunshine wherever you were” and “You will be remembered with the fondest of memories.”

The talented footballer who narrowly missed out on selection for the England Schoolboy squad earlier this year, was found dead at his home in Georgian Way, Wigmore, on Sunday, March 30. Doctors have so far been unable to explain the tragedy.

Jack, a pupil at Rochester Math School, had also played for the Gillingham youth team.