Truce events in England and Belgium

The lead-up to Christmas has seen further events taking place in England and Belgium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1914 Christmas Truce, when soldiers from opposing sides set aside hostilities to play football in a remarkable gesture of peace and fraternity.

In England, the president of the English Football Association (FA), His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge, unveiled a monument commemorating the 1914 Christmas Truce at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. The event was part of 'Football Remembers', a series of events in December, where The FA has been working alongside the British Council, the English Football League and the English Premier League, uniting the football family to pay its respects to mark the special centenary.

"[The monument] will serve as a permanent reminder of one of the key moments of the First World War," said The Duke. "We all grew up with the story of soldiers from both sides putting down their arms to meet in no-man's land on Christmas Day 1914, when gunfire remarkably gave way to gifts. It remains wholly relevant today, as a message of hope and humanity, even in the bleakest of times. Football, then as now, had the power to bring people together and break down barriers."

The Duke of Cambridge and Arsenal FC and England forward Theo Walcott judged a competition open to more than 30,000 schools across the UK to design the Christmas truce memorial. The Duke met the young designer, ten-year-old Spencer Turner from Newcastle, at the dedication ceremony at the Arboretum, which is the nation's centre of remembrance.

Also in England, as part of the "Football Remembers" events, the British Army's football team played their German counterparts in a commemorative match at Aldershot. English FA chairman Greg Dyke, and English football legend Sir Bobby Charlton were among those present to watch the game, which the British Army team won 1-0.

In Belgium, supporters from Belgium, England, France, Germany, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales came together for a 100th anniversary commemoration tournament played at Mesen/Messines, which was located on the front line a century ago. "The Christmas Truce is considered as a symbolic moment of peace and humanity," said the Royal Belgian Football Association (URBSFA/KBVB).

"Thanks to the involvement of supporters, the [Belgian FA] hopes to put the origins of the Christmas Truce in evidence – humble soldiers who spontaneously laid down their weapons to play a football match." France won the tournament, beating Scotland 4-2 in the final.