A young Toon fan who missed out on Wembley tickets has been left "buzzing" after being named as the matchday mascot.
Jimmy Morris was left "gutted" after he and his family missed out on tickets for Sunday's Carabao Cup final clash vs Manchester United. But the youngster's luck soon changed after he found out his dad, Shaun, 35, had won a mascot competition, meaning Jimmy will lead out his footballing idols in front of 90,000 fans at the home of football.
Jimmy, who is a budding footballer himself and plays on the left wing for Rutherford AFC's Swifts side in Gateshead, will be kitted out in a brand new Newcastle strip and will walk out of the Wembley tunnel with Kieran Trippier. On Saturday, Jimmy headed down to London with his dad Shaun, and mam Toni, 30, in preparation for the big day.
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Speaking to The Chronicle as they made their way down south, Toni said: "Shaun has been a season ticket holder since the age of three and they were all planning to go to Wembley but they never got tickets, so they were gutted all week. But Shaun had entered a competition on Thursday, and on Friday his phone rang and someone from NUFC told us Jimmy had won and he was going to be the mascot for the match.
"Jimmy was out playing football at the time, so we rang him and told him to run home. All of his friends had been talking about going to the match so he was gutted.
"So he came legging it home and Shaun said 'guess where we're going?'. He then told him and the bairn started crying and Shaun started crying and they were just hugging. He's really excited, he's been for his hair chopped and everything. He's buzzing!"
As part of the competition win, Jimmy, who lives in Kibblesworth with his family and attends Kibblesworth Academy, was measured up and will be kitted out in a brand new NUFC strip as he leads out the players alongside Kieran Trippier. Being the sole Newcastle mascot to be picked, Jimmy will also get a tour of the Wembley stadium and will meet the squad before the match kicks off.
The Magpies will play in their first major cup final for 24 years and their first at the new Wembley Stadium and thousands of Newcastle supporters are expected to descend on the capital for a piece of the action. London is expected to be a sea of black and white as Eddie Howe's men look to win their first major trophy since 1969.
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