MAGICAL MOMENT FOR OLLIE WATKINS’ BIGGEST FAN
The last gasp 90th minute winning goal scored by Ollie Watkins to secure England’s place in the Euro’s Final in Berlin on Sunday was a magical moment for one of his biggest fans in Hampton Hill – 11 year old Woody Stokes, who has Down’s Syndrome and autism.
The 28 year old England hero befriended Woody when he played for Brentford, then in the Championship in 2017, and has continued to stay in touch with him since his big move to Premiership club Aston Villa back in 2017.
In a poignant note posted on a ‘wishing tree’ Ollie wrote: “I wish that Woody can one day watch me play for England,” and signed by Ollie Watkins on 16th September in 2020.
Woody, the son of Teddington’s Park Lane Stables founder Natalie O’Rourke, could barely contain himself as he watched the England semi-final with a bunch of friends against the Netherlands and ripped off his shirt when his idol hit the winner.
They made friends when Woody patiently waited for 90 minutes to get Ollie’s autograph at Brentford.
Since then Ollie has visited Woody at Park Lane stables when he delivered Easter eggs and gave him a signed Aston Villa shirt where Ollie wrote: “T0 WOODY. THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS SUPPORTING ME LITTLE MAN. LOVE YOU MATE!”
Woody’s mother Natalie said: “It was a like a fairy tale for Woody, a dream come true. He was quite overwhelmed with emotion and overjoyed, celebrating and dancing around the garden, singing, screaming then he just burst into tears sobbing ‘Ollie, Ollie’ – it meant so much to him seeing his hero in an England shirt scoring the winning goal in such an important match.
“He is a very special man and has been a great friend to Woody.”
Ollie has said previously: “It’s more than just him being a fan… we’ve got a close little friendship.”
