Tributes pour in for young crash victim

21-year-old Lawrence Stevens, from Arundel was driving home from a football training session with Barnham Football Club’s reserve side when the accident happened.

He was travelling eastbound on the A27 in his Peugeot 106 when the crash with the Peugeot 206 happened outside the White Swan pub.

Team mates and friends have been posting memories on social networking website Facebook, and memorial website www.gonetoosoon.org since the accident on Thursday at 9.25pm.

His ex-girlfriend Lauren Stentiford wrote on the memorial website: “Not one bad bone in your body Mr Stevens, gonna miss you so much just wish I could have seen you one last time.

“So so sad to see you go so unexpectedly.

“None of us know what to do or say it’s such a hard time and I’m sending all my love to your family.

“We’re all so pleased of everything you became and will never ever forget you.”

Team captain Dan Almey said: “He was always positive. He had a great attitude.

“He was always willing to learn and I appreciated that as a captain, and he was very ambitious.

“He was really friendly, he never had a bad word to say about anybody.

“He was quiet, but every time you looked around he had a smile on his face.

“We are both Chelsea fans, so it was love at first sight for me.”

The club postponed all three of its senior matches on Saturday as a mark of respect.

The team Mr Stevens played for were to play a cup quarter-final match against Lancing on Saturday, and are also in a strong position to win the league.

He added: “We are in contention for the title, and obviously we are going to have a massive huddle before the next game.

“The team is going to be motivated, and we are going to make sure we are going to win the league for him.”

The driver of the 206, who was in her 20s, suffered from minor injuries and was taken to Worthing Hospital for treatment. The fire service was at the scene for more than two hours.

n Anyone with information about the collision is asked to contact Sussex Police on 0845 60 70 999 quoting Operation Hillsdown.