An Everton ambassador’s remarkable memory – and the generosity of Chairman Bill Kenwright – landed two awestruck Blues fans the experience of a lifetime at our last home match against Newcastle.
The Club had arranged for Jinder Singh and son Raye, members of our Singapore Supporters Club, to mark their 14,000 mile round trip by meeting Club ambassadors Graham Stuart and Ian Snodin pitchside before the match.
Which is where it all became a little surreal!
Jinder explained: “It was my son’s 13th birthday, his first visit to the UK and my first visit since 2018. And when we met the ambassadors at pitchside before the match, Ian Snodin remembered me from when the Club had visited Bangkok in 2014!
“I’ve been following the Blues since the mid 80s and came over for matches in 2018, 2014 and in 2009 for the FA Cup final.
“We were going up to our seats when we saw the Chairman, Bill Kenwright, and Ian introduced us.
“Bill was wonderful. He took us into the Board Room, introduced us to Denise (Barrett-Baxendale), Kevin (Thelwell), Graeme (Sharp) – then when we were about to go back to our seats he said ‘Would you like to watch the match from the Directors’ Box?’ I asked my son to make our decision – which took him about two seconds!
“We sat behind Bill and Tony Bellew, and when Bill asked Raye for a score prediction he told him we were going to win 1-0!
“He must be a lucky charm. After all it was his 13th birthday – lucky 13!
“It was an amazing experience. We got to meet Jonjoe Kenny, Tom Davies, Tony Bellew and so many others.
“On the behalf of my son Raye. I want to personally thank each and every one of you for making it a memorable trip for us. Everyone from the stewards, staff, hospitality crew and the various board members were awesome and very kind and welcoming to both of us.
“But most of all I’d like to say a huge, huge thank you to Bill Kenwright for his generosity. It was fantastic and a dream come true not just for my son but for me as well.
“We truly are the People's Club and we hope to be back again soon to Goodison Park and see you all again.”
To cap an incredible experience for our long distance travellers Alex Iwobi sealed a memorable win with his 99th minute goal – and confirmed Raye’s pre-match prediction!
