Boy, 9, fulfils dream of being Manchester City stadium announcer
- Published
Nate said after finding out when he was doing the job, he had been "counting down on my City calendar"
A nine-year-old football fan has fulfilled a lifelong dream of being a stadium announcer after taking to the mic at his beloved Manchester City.
Nate introduced his heroes before they took on Brentford at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.
He said it was "really exciting" to take charge of the "build-up".
Posting on X, external, club announcer Danny Jackson said Nate "genuinely was amazing" and "one of the most dedicated people I've met".
The club said Nate, who is from a family of Manchester City supporters, had had a passion for matchday announcing for years and practised twice a day on his own karaoke set using the tunnel cam footage the club releases after every game.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
His father Matt wrote to the club to highlight his son's talent in 2023 and Nate was then invited to shadow Mr Jackson before making his debut on Tuesday.
"I felt really excited when my mum and dad said I was going to do it," he told BBC Radio Manchester.
"I found out a few weeks ago and I was counting down on my City calendar to 20 February."
Matt said it was "amazing" to see his son whip up the crowd and read out the home team sheet ahead of the match.
He said Nate was "a one-off", whose passion for announcing often outweighed his love of the game.
"He would much prefer to sit there watching the team coming back out on to the pitch and off the pitch and back onto the pitch and announcing that than watching the game half the time," he said.
Stadium announcer Danny Jackson said he had "no doubts" Nate would be what he wanted to be
He added that he and Nate's mother Nicky had wanted to show him that his passions could "be channelled in a really positive way".
"We believe that kids' dreams should be within reach," he said.
"City, to their credit, got back to us and said 'let's make it happen'.
"We just wanted him to get a sample, but he's actually going to get to do it - as parents, it's just a dream come true."
In his post, Mr Jackson added that he had "absolutely no doubts whatsoever" that Nate would "go on to be whatever he wants to be".
Nate's appearance turned out to be a good omen for City, who went on to beat Brentford 1-0 with a goal from his hero Erling Haaland.
Why not follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, external, X, external and Instagram, external? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk