A DAY of sporting drama ended with a young Islander getting his hands on one of the most prestigious trophies in football… having thought it had slipped from his grasp a few minutes earlier.
The inspiring reaction of 16-year-old Ben Mason since his sister Kezia took her own life earlier this year led to him being asked to present the Premier League trophy on the final day of the English season – but only if his beloved Manchester City could win it.
After his son had set out to raise funds for mental-health charities in memory of his sister and collected in excess of £100,000, his father Rob wrote to see if the club might acknowledge their visit to Sunday’s home game against Aston Villa.
Mr Mason said: ‘I’d written to [Manchester] City the previous weekend to see if there might be something they could do to acknowledge Ben – I was thinking that perhaps they might be able to sort out a signed shirt, or something like that.’
A phone call last Tuesday left Mr Mason in a state of disbelief – signed merchandise was not mentioned, with the club having some rather more significant plans for Ben.
‘I couldn’t believe it, but they wanted Ben to present the trophy if things went right for City on the day,’ he added.
Following some rearranged travel plans, Mr Mason and his son were able to get to Manchester by Saturday afternoon, earlier than scheduled, in order to take part in a dress rehearsal for the presentation.
Having kept the invitation a secret until the pair of them arrived in Manchester, Mr Mason received some incredulous feedback from Ben once he revealed what they were going to be doing.
Ben said: ‘I was shocked when my dad told me on Saturday afternoon that if we won on Sunday I would be presenting the trophy to our captain – I didn’t believe him at first.’
Manchester City, who have been supported by the Mason family for generations, had plenty to do on Sunday to ensure the presentation would go ahead. A narrow one-point lead over rivals Liverpool meant they were likely to need a win in their final game, and after 70 of the 90 minutes the position looked bleak, with City trailing 2-0.
Mr Mason added: ‘City never do things the easy way, and Ben and I were in tears, it looked like it was slipping away from us.’
But it doesn’t take long for fortunes to change round on a football field, and after an inspired substitution by manager Pep Guardiola, City levelled the match with two goals in five minutes.
The dream for Ben, his dad and all Manchester City supporters was back on, and he was collected to be taken down to the pitch. Not only that, but on the way down his side struck a third goal to take the lead.
By maintaining their lead until the final whistle blew, Ben’s team had the luxury of not having to care what happened in Liverpool’s match, with the Reds ending up 3-1 winners over Wolves but being unable to overhaul their rivals.
Having kept the secret all week, the end of the game also meant Mr Mason could send some hurried text messages to family and friends to make sure they tuned in to the presentation, which was screened live by Sky Sports.
Once celebrating supporters had cleared the arena at the Etihad Stadium following a celebratory pitch invasion, the stage was clear for Ben to go on with the trophy, accompanied by 22-year-old Olivia Wardle, who works for Manchester City’s community arm while battling cancer.
The duo handed out medals to the victorious City players before handing the trophy to Fernandinho, the Brazilian who captains the side and was making his farewell appearance.
Ben was back home in Jersey yesterday, still buzzing from what he described as ‘an incredible experience, one that I’ll never forget’. But he was also preparing himself for a slight change of tempo, as he was due to sit a GCSE exam today.
