THE parents of a football-mad seven-year-old saved the day after the season’s abrupt halt threatened to stop their son’s dreams coming true.

Blakely Cole, from Southwick, had been given a special birthday present – he was told he would be starring as a Brighton and Hove Albion mascot.

He had been counting down the days until he would walk out on to the pitch hand in hand with the players.

But due to coronavirus, the fixture against Manchester United he had been waiting for was cancelled.

So his parents came to the rescue. Charlie Miller, 32, and Jordan Cole, 33, spent the evening making masks and concocting their own back-garden football stadium.

The Argus:

Blakely’s mother Charlie said: “My son lives and breathes football. For his birthday last year, we bought him a mascot package.

"He was so excited, but then we got the news that it had been cancelled.

“He was devastated. We didn’t know what to do.

"How do you explain to a seven-year-old they can’t go to the football because of coronavirus?

“Then we had an idea. We thought: if we can’t go to the Amex, we’ll bring the Amex here.”

That night, they set about secretly preparing the mock-up stadium.

Charlie said: “My partner Jordan started printing the players’ faces out and we decorated the whole garden. We woke Blakely up in the morning and told him. He absolutely loved it.”

In the video, Jordan wears a captain Lewis Dunk mask and escorts Blakely out into the backyard stadium.

A montage shows the pair practising and features shots of Jordan dressed up as a referee as well as a host of Manchester United players for Blakely to shake hands with.

As a die-hard Liverpool fan, Jordan found this part hard to stomach. Charlie said: “At first he didn’t want to put the Man U shirt on, but he did it for Blakely and his brothers .”

Bobby is five and Frankie is 12 and also love football.

The Argus:

Charlie said the family are having to find new ways to keep the children entertained in lockdown.

Blakely is now getting online football coaching in the garden. “They’re getting quite bored, but we’re finding things to keep them occupied,” she said.

  • The coronavirus Sussex Crisis Fund has been set up to help those affected by the pandemic. The Argus’s charity and American Express have each donated £50,000 to kick-start the appeal. Grants will usually be for up to £5,000. More information is available at www.sussexgiving. org.uk/apply. To donate visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/sussexcrisisfund