In pictures: Hundreds attend the funeral of well-known and much-loved 20-year-old amateur footballer from Northampton

Hundreds of people attended the funeral of a well-known and much-loved 20-year-old amateur footballer from Northampton who tragically died last month.

Luke Abrahams, from East Hunsbury, died on the operating table at Northampton General Hospital on Sunday, January 23 after being diagnosed with tonsillitis a week prior. The family say they are now going to fight for answers as to why their son died.

The former Abbeyfield School student's funeral took place at the Counties Crematorium at Milton Malsor at around 4pm yesterday (Wednesday, February 22).

Luke's coffin was driven from his home in Granary Court to the Counties Crematorium, where the funeral procession was greeted with a touching round of applause before the service started at 4.15pm.

Dad Richard Abrahams said: "Thank you to everyone for coming, it was overwhelming."

Tributes pour in for 'amazing' 20-year-old amateur footballer from Northampton who died suddenly

Will Oelrich, Luke's friend, said: "It was an amazing turnout There were so many people there. It was amazing to see.

"It was really sad, of course. I think the boys who did their speeches were fantastic. Luke's dad was saying Luke would have loved the attention.

"It was really tough but it was a celebration of Luke's life. It was a nice day and a nice memory of him.

"The wake after at The Yeoman of England [in Wootton] was so packed. It was rammed. Richard gave a toast and we raised a glass to Luke."

Dad, Richard, and mum, Julie Needham, recently paid tribute to their 'caring' and 'popular' son.

They said: "We're a close family. Luke was a family man. It was always the four of us. We did everything together.

"We just can't believe he's not here anymore. We keep thinking he's out with his mates and he's going to be home any minute.

"He's a caring boy, always has been. Always been a character. Always liked to be the centre of attention.

"He was such a popular boy. We knew he had mates but not that many mates. It's like everybody knows him. He used to say to us, 'everybody knows me'.

"It will never ever be the same. I just can't believe this has happened to us. We're never going to get back to normal life, but we want to get back to some sort of life."

Luke played in the Nene Sunday League and Northants Combination League for Hunsbury Hawks FC and Blisworth FC, and he also had associations with AFC Spinney. He also worked at The Optimist pub in town and previously worked at Goals Soccer Centre in Mereway.

Richard and Julie added: “Football was his world. Saturday mornings. Sunday mornings. Tuesday evenings. Wednesday evenings. All football.”

A GoFundMe page was started by friends from Hunsbury Hawks FC to give Luke 'the best send off possible' and to support his family. So far, at the time of writing (Thursday, February 23) £12,375 has been raised.