A Celtic-obsessed kid has been given the chance to watch the upcoming Scottish Premiership match against Dundee from the directors’ box after his heartwarming exchange with opposition supporters went viral.
Eight-year-old Joshua McLaughlin has been a regular at Celtic’s home games with his father, Kevin, since the age of five.
A budding footballer who plays for Thorn Athletic 2016, Joshua loves making the most of every matchday experience. Whether it’s raving about his favourite Hoops stars, cheering on his heroes until the final whistle, or observing the diverse away supports who visit Celtic Park, Joshua’s enthusiasm for the game knows no bounds.
And it was no different when Swiss side BSC Young Boys arrived in Glasgow for their UEFA Champions League fixture against Celtic on Wednesday night. Well, so he thought…
However, what would come next for the young St Anthony's Primary pupil was unique, and showed the power of football.
Following the 1-0 win over Young Boys, a result that clinched Celtic’s place in the knockout stage of the competition for the first time in 12 years, Joshua ventured over towards the packed away end.
Encouraged to get closer to the segregation, Joshua then managed to endear the Young Boys faithful as his presence led to the noise ramping up ten-fold.
Subsequently, the Renfrewshire native was given a scarf and stickers donning the visiting team’s colours before continuing to wave back in delight.
The McLaughlin's will also be on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard to share their special story.
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Recalling his son’s unforgettable Champions League moment, Kevin told Newsquest: "Joshua comes to every home game with me, we sit in the North Stand and after every game we go down right to the halfway line and we wave to the players coming round at the end.
"Joshua loves to go along to see the supporters, particularly at European games, and last night he said that he was quite fascinated by the noise, the colour, and just the general good nature and humour, and banter, the sing-song if you like, from the Young Boys fans.
"And we went along and he stood in front of them, he was looking at them very mesmerised and then started to wave to them and they all started to wave back.
"The supporters were brilliant. Just after that the police let a couple of Young Boys supporters through, they gave him Young Boys stickers and a Young Boys scarf as well.
"He was really delighted, and on the way home the car could've flipped home itself, it was like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He was really, really delighted.
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"He's went to school quite happy but we've now been invited to join Celtic Football Club as guests in the directors box with all the directors and invited guests on Saturday.
"A lot of people have been in touch from Celtic sites wishing to speak to him and to send him T-shirts. In general, it's went viral. It's had 1.5million views on Twitter, so it's great."
