Doug and Heather Maidens, his brothers Phil and Gareth and girlfriend Gemma Rowe were rocked by their loss in October last year, and have spent the last year in limbo hoping to discover what led to the tragedy.

The family regularly visit the cemetery in his hometown of Saltburn, while flowers and a Pools scarf are poignantly tied at the scene of the accident.

Mr Maidens said: "He was a 20-year-old lad with his whole life ahead of him and that has all been taken away.

"If we knew exactly what had happened on the night of the accident, it could give us some sort of closure.

"Instead, we are left wondering. An investigation can close and people can move on, but we can't.

"This is with us all of the time. We talk about what could have happened at work, we talk about it at home.

"We have his picture at home on the wall, his trophies and his shirts. We lie awake at night trying to work out what happened.

"I have been to the roundabout where the crash happened, and tried to work out how the car left the road. "There are so many questions that remain unanswered."

He added: "It must be every dad's dream to see their son make it as a professional footballer. It was Mike's dream, and he worked hard to achieve it.

"He was with Hartlepool United from the age of eight, and he had to give up a lot.

"While his friends would be out on a weekend, he'd be preparing for a match somewhere.

"On the Friday night when the accident happened he hadn't been out on a Friday night for three months.

"He said he didn't have a game the next day, and he hadn't seen the lads for ages so he was going through to Yarm Fair with them.

"For a father, words cannot describe how proud I am of him, and anyone who says they know how it feels really has no idea.

"I'm angry and frustrated by the fact the investigation has been closed because I just want justice for our Mike.

"While all this has been going on, he just doesn't seem to have mattered in all of it.

"We know the inquest will be coming up, but we're not going to give up.

"But as a family, we just want some answers."