TWO men have been charged over the death of an amateur football player.

Darren Forwood, 20, of Frays Avenue, West Drayton, was charged with the murder of Stephen Ritchie, 43, at Little Harlington Playing Fields, in Sipson Lane, Harlington, on Sunday.

Brandon Thompson, 20, of Widmore Road, Hillingdon, was charged with ABH, and they are both due to appear at Uxbridge Magistrates Court today (Tues).

Mr Ritchie of Brentford, had just finished playing a match against local side Kingshill Town FC with his team, Old Greenfordians of Ealing, when the incident occurred.

The emergency services were called to the fields at about 12.20pm, but he had already stopped breathing by the time they arrived.

A spokesperson from the London Ambulance Service said: "Despite extensive efforts to resuscitate him sadly he was pronounced dead at the scene at 1.05pm."

Officers cordoned off part of the pitch, which is next to Chelsea's old training ground, now used by Championship side QPR.

A post mortem at Uxbridge Mortuary on Monday gave the cause of death as a head injury.

Ron Dunning, chairman of Hayes & District Sunday Football League, said: "We cannot add anything further because the matter is currently under investigation by the police."