Keane pays tribute ahead of funeral for Irish fan
The 21-year-old from Blessington in Wicklow drowned on Jun 16 after falling into the river Brda in Bydgoszcz.
His body was discovered on Wednesday following an extensive search of the area. Foul play is not suspected.
He had been travelling with friends between Gdansk and Poznan for the Irish matches when he vanished.
A large crowd attended his removal last night in the Church of Our Lady in Blessington.
The funeral will take place at 11am today.
In what was a roundly praised gesture, Ireland captain Robbie Keane also paid tribute to the student after scoring a goal for his team LA Galaxy on Saturday.
During the 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps, Keane scored in the 30th minute before collecting a Galaxy shirt from the subs’ bench which had “RIP James Nolan” inscribed on the back. He then showed it to television cameras and fans.
After the game, he told the Washington Post it was a small gesture for the family. He said he had called James’s father to express his sympathy.
“Obviously, the whole country was sad and I called his father today to send my condolences and to say that my thoughts were with him and the family,” said Keane.
“It was just a gesture because the Irish people are very close and they stick with each other through good times and bad times. He was a big, big soccer fan and it was a shame, so it was just a show of respect really.”
FAI chief John Delaney has also said the association would like to do something to pay tribute to James.
“I’m going to the funeral because he was in Poland supporting his heroes and we have to be there to support his family,” said Mr Delaney.
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