It was a wholesome start to a bright and sunny Monday morning at The Brache as James Shea was presented his Premier League debut ball by one of his footballing heroes.
David Seaman, who accumulated 75 England caps and 543 appearances for Sheasy’s beloved Arsenal, is a player that our number one has a lot of love for.
Shea grew up watching Seaman in goal for his boyhood club since he was born until 2003 when the former long-haired goalkeeper moved on from Highbury, before being a mentor for Shea while he was in the Arsenal academy.
“This is going to sound really sad,” said Shea while sat next to his childhood hero, “As a kid, I had a little statue of Dave holding the ball under his arm and pointing in his yellow JVC kit!
“That shows how much I adored him growing up, he’s an absolute legend. I have no idea at all that it was happening, I was sitting in the room thinking we had a meeting.
“All of a sudden, there’s a big knock on the door and David walks in the door with the ball, I just thought ‘that might be for me’. It was unbelievable and I can’t thank David enough for coming.”
Luton legend Mick Harford was who Seaman answered the phone to about presenting the Premier League debut ball for Sheasy, who had a funny story about the centre-forward from their playing days.
“Big Mick asked me last week,” explained Seaman while sat on the benches at The Brache with Shea next to him. They laughed that you cannot say no to Mick Harford, before Seaman reminisced: “When I went to Birmingham City, Mick was there, and he was just being transferred back to Luton at the time.
“Just as Mick left, he stole my boots! I just bought myself a pair of brand-new Nike Tiempos and he took them. So, Mick owes me a pair of boots!”