NICK FLIES IN FROM DOWN UNDER TO SEE HIS BELOVED VALE GO UP!
A video of reunion with mum goes viral
WHEN Port Vale ran out at Wembley on Saturday they were roared on by a fan who has travelled over 10,000 miles to see one of the biggest games in the club’s recent history.
The Nick’s homecoming of former Alsager school pupil Nick Davies proved something of an internet sensation with the video of the surprise the 33-year-old gave mum Angela being watched 2,200 times.
But after the emotional reunion with friends and family - and the chance to finally enjoy oatcakes again, Nick was focused on seeing Vale’s impressive return to League One after they beat Mansfield 3-0 at Wembley in the play-oof final.
he flew out to Sydney in 2011 for what was going to be a two-year stay. But Nick, right, who was brought up around Church Lawton and Alsager, got a job with a brewery company and landed a sponsorship to stay on.
He said: “When you’re offered the chance to brew beer and live in Australia you don’t turn it down! I had been working in a bar in Sydney and had got speaking to brewers and mentioned that my background was in science and it just went from there.”
After a couple of years in Sydney he moved out to Port Macquarie where he turned out for a team with some real Burslem connections. He said: “I played for Port Macquarie FC and they had Vale’s old logo! I lived there for three years and then moved to
Brisbane where I am living now.”
The Liverpool John Moores University graduate now works as a engineered solutions manager in the infrastructure industry - and still manages to watch his beloved Vale.
He said: “I haven’t been home since March 2017 and I miss my friends, family and of course the Vale.
They are pretty strict out here about what is allowed in and oatcakes don’t really last so I have missed proper fresh oatcakes. I was at a wedding during the first-leg of the play-offs and watched it on my phone under a table and then saw the second-leg at home.”
Nick landed back in the UK on May 22 and went to Delamere Forest where his mum was singing with Rock Choir for a Race For Life event. The journey was captured on video with Nick being collected, in secret, from the airport by brother Mike and Mike’s fiancée Anna.
In the forest Nick was reunited with mum Angela, of Kidsgrove, and sister Susannah before a trip to meet up with cousins Lauren and Nicole and grandfather, Bernard. This week he also managed to attend the wedding of one of his best friends.
Mum Angela, aged 66, said: “I think I am still in shock. When he was standing in front of me it was like I was in a dream - I haven’t seen him for five-and-a-half years.
“I miss him so much and we do stay in touch thanks to modern technology but it’s amazing to have him here - it still feels surreal.” Nick, who flew back yesterday, said: “My friends back in Brisbane were watching the game and wearing my old Vale tops!
“There are no words to describe how excited I am.
“I haven’t seen the Vale in the flesh for such a long time.”
Angela added: “Vale’s win was the icing on the cake for the week we have had.”