A young Chester FC sent a heartwarming letter and picture to his favourite player after receiving his boots at the end of the season.
Five-year-old George Grimsditch wrote to Chester player/assistant manager Tom Shaw to thank him after the midfielder gave the young Blues fan his boots at the end of the last game of the 2016/17 campaign at home to Boreham Wood in April.
With a little help from dad Dave, George, from Little Sutton, penned a letter to his favourite player and included a drawing of Tom heading home in the memorable 2-2 draw at Tranmere Rovers last season.
George wrote: “Dear Tom. My name is George. I am five years old. I am a Chester fan.
“I wanted to thank you very much for giving your boots after the Boreham Wood match. That was very kind of you and I will keep them forever. You are now my favourite player ever.
“I also wanted to wish you good luck for next season. Love, George.”
And while his classmates mostly follow Premier League sides such as Liverpool, Everton and Manchester United, dad Dave says that Tom’s generosity meant just as much to his son as one of his friends receiving a pair of boots from their footballing idols.
“I’ve been watching Chester for 30 years and I’ve been able to take George recently and he’s caught the bug,” said Dave.
“After every match I always go down to the tunnel to clap the players off with George and Tom came over and handed his boots to George. He was absolutely delighted and it really made his day.
“He couldn’t wait to get them home and we are going to put them in a frame and do something with them. He’s really proud of them.
“He wanted to thank Tom so we sat down and he wanted to write a letter and draw him a picture. It may only seem like a little thing but to lads like George it means everything. It’s a moment he cherishes and it is something that only serves to make going to Chester games more enjoyable for him.
“His mates support teams like Everton and Liverpool but for George, Tom’s boots are like one of his friends getting Phillippe Coutinho’s boots. He’s his hero.”
And Tom expressed his delight at receiving the heartwarming letter and picture, revealing it now sits proudly on his wall at home.
“You don’t get many plaudits at this level of football so to receive something like that is really touching and really special,” said Tom.
“I put George’s picture up on my wall at home and it’s next to the pictures that my little girl brings me home from nursery. It really meant a lot to me, and it was so well written.
“It’s always nice when people say nice things but to receive something like this from a young supporter is really special and something that I wasn’t expecting.”
The club have invited George and his family down for a tour of the ground to meet the players during the summer holidays.
