A Ballymena schoolboy is “absolutely buzzing” after walking out as a mascot for Celtic FC at a Champions League game.
8-year-old Kaleb Dunlop was one of 22 child mascots at Celtic Park for their clash with Slovan Bratislava in Glasgow on Wednesday night.
His grandfather Patrick told the Irish News it was a dream come true for the young Celtic fan.
“Kaleb’s football mad,” he said. “We even caught him smuggling his Celtic kit into his schoolbag so he can change before he gets home and head straight out for a kick around.
“The Celtic foundation do these things all the time where you put your name forward for kids to be a mascot and we would enter Kaleb each time not thinking much would come of it. Then last week we got an email to say he had been chosen. We really weren’t expecting it.”
The St Colmcille’s Primary School pupil has been to numerous matches with his grandfather, but nothing could have prepared him for the atmosphere at Wednesday night’s match.
Kaleb was spotted covering his ears before kick-off as the energy of the crowd filled the stadium.
“I tried to warn him the sheer volume would be on another level from any of the games we attended,” Patrick said.
“I told him in the stadium he would witness noise like never before because the Champions league is completely different.
“He said the noise was so loud down there that he couldn’t help himself, but he loved every minute, it was a great atmosphere. Kaleb is absolutely buzzing from the experience.”
Celtic swept Slovan Bratislava aside with a 5-1 victory.
Brendan Rodgers’ side hit four second-half goals to kick-start their league campaign.
