This month, a cohort of Canadian officers came to Manchester to visit colleagues from Greater Manchester Police to mark the 10-year anniversary of the death of former GMP officer Daniel Woodall.
Dan moved to Canada to join the Edmonton police force, where he was tragically shot and killed while trying to force entry to arrest a wanted male in Canada in 2015.
The visitors took to the GMP police museum on their first day, followed by exploring the city’s sights into the afternoon. The following day, they were met by Chief Constable Stephen Watson, where they presented him with a plaque commemorating the Woodall Cup.
The main event of the week was the Woodall Cup, a charity football match set up to honour the memory of PC Woodall. The game took place on Friday 9 May, with victory going to the opposing Edmonton Police football team.
Detective Sergeant Dominic Beaver from Bolton CID, who organised the match and the visit said: “Dan started his police career at GMP around the same time as I did, then Dan and his wife transferred over to Canada. He knew a school friend of mine who lives in Edmonton and as ex-pats, they used to watch the UK football together. My friend recognised the link between GMP and Canada and in 2016, five GMP staff went to Canada on a self-funded trip to represent GMP and take part in the second Woodall Cup, against the EPS Blues (Edmonton Police football team). The first game resulted in a draw, and the British Ex-pats team won the second.
“Unfortunately, on this occasion, the GMP team lost, but the event was great fun, and everyone really enjoyed it. It was also an opportunity to raise funds for Once upon a smile – a Salford-based child bereavement charity that supported Dan’s children when they moved back to the UK.
“It was a pleasure to host our Canadian visitors, and they really enjoyed their time here. They took the opportunity to find out more about what we do here and how we do it. They were very impressed with our methods and hopefully we’ll forge some partnership links in the future to share knowledge.”
Detective Paul Branco from Edmonton police homicide section emailed DS Beaver to say: “I wanted to thank you for the work you put in to host us last week.
“Sedgley was a great place for our team to stay. We really appreciated how unique the accommodations were, we don’t have that kind of history and character in Edmonton. Plus, the fact Dan’s commemorative tree was right there added to how special it was.
“The tours of GMP facilities and getting to talk shop with our counterparts over there further fostered our policing brotherhood. It was cool to share stories and hear we basically do the same work, just slightly different ways of going about it.
“We left with loads of memories we won’t soon forget and immense pride in honouring Dan.”
