Accies make schoolboy fan Joshua smile again
Club are there for teen fan
A delighted mum has praised Hamilton Accies after they treated her young son like a star during a recent visit.
Joshua Condie had gone through some turbulent times in his personal life, including the unexpected death of a young cousin,.
And he was thrilled when Hamilton Accies players Markus Fjortoft, Alex Gogic and Adrian Beck visited his school, Calderside Academy, earlier this month as part of European Day of Languages.
The 15-year-old Hamilton lad was the only Accies fan in his Spanish class, and mum Gail said he was buzzing for hours after it.
She wrote a letter to the thank the club’s head of media, Marcus Nash, and he responded by arranging for Joshua to visit New Douglas Park during the October break.
Joshua watched a press conference, saw the team train and had lunch with them afterwards.
Mum Gail says he was wondering if head coach Brian Rice would allow him to take a selfie with him, when the gaffer handed him a home shirt with his name and age, 15, on the back of it.
Gail said: “It was quite important for Joshua. He’s a pupil at Calderside Academy and the players went to his Spanish class as part of European Languages Day. He was the only one in the class who is a fan, so he was ecstatic.
“There had been a bereavement in the family so it was a really difficult week for us, and the person was young, so it was even worse.
“Joshua was a changed boy, on a high from the visit to his school, and he said that he had been offered tickets for a game, but didn’t want to say that he was already a season ticket-holder. He was delighted, he got his picture taken with the players who were there, and one of them put it on Twitter, so he got a lot of comments from people who know him.
“He was a different person, he was as high as a kite.
“I sent an email to Marcus Nash, who is the head of media, and thanked him for the visit, and explained the situation.
“I honestly didn’t expect anything to come from it, it was just to say how positive and encouraging it had been to Joshua, but Marcus arranged for him to go in on his school holidays.
“People say it’s a comunity-based club but it’s much more than that.
“Everybody made time for us, from the kit man right up to the manager, they made sure Joshua was with everything.
“When Brian Rice walked up and told him he was going to get a shirt with his name and age on it, Joshua was gobsmacked – he didn’t expect anything like that.
“Everybody was so nice to us. I can’t thank Accies enough, it was such a special day.
“Joshua is still on a high, it’s like we need to scrape him off the ceiling. He’s so humble, takes absolutely nothing for granted, and when he got the shirt he couldn’t believe that.
“I was so pleased to see the difference in him and it really can make such a difference to a young boy. It was such a positive experience and the difference has been phenomenal.
“He doesn’t think he’s any more deserving than anybody else, but the difference it has made to him is incredible.”
Marcus Nash said: “I spoke to Brian Rice and [chief executive] Colin Mcgowan and between us we agreed to give this young man a day to remember.
“We went all-out and gave access that I don’t think many fans have ever had before.
“Joshua’s a remarkable young lad, he’s a big Accies fan and we knew we could put a smile on his face.” involved