A 12-year-old football fan enjoyed the trip of a lifetime at Wembley Stadium after winning a competition to commentate on the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final.
Having watched his side gain promotion back to the Championship at Wembley last weekend, Millwall fan Akai Coleman was announced as the winner of a national competition run by Nicktoons and the EFL to find the UK’s most talented young football commentators.
A little over a week after Steve Morison's late goal in the Sky Bet League One Play-Off Final that fired Millwall up, Akai experienced a unique day at the national stadium.
He gained behind the scenes access with the Nick Kicks crew, including stepping inside the Wembley dressing rooms, climbing the famous steps to the Royal Box, interviewing players and reporting pitchside on one of the biggest games of the season, as Huddersfield Town beat Reading 4-3 on penalties to secure a dramatic promotion into England’s top flight.
With a record-breaking number of youngsters now attending EFL matches up and down the country, the EFL and Nicktoons launched a campaign to find a fan aged 16 or under to join the Nick Kicks commentary team alongside presenters Roman Kemp and Rachel Stringer at Wembley Stadium.
To be in with a chance of becoming the Diddy Pundit, fans were asked to upload a video giving a 60-second match report on a game of their choice. Five finalists were shortlisted and invited to professionally record a match report in the Nick Kicks studio in London, with Akai being voted the overall winner.
Nick Kicks co-presenter Rachel Stringer said, “Diddy Pundit has been a brilliant opportunity for budding commentators and Akai was fantastic when he joined us at Wembley Stadium to help us report on one of the biggest matches of the season.”
Nick Kicks is a weekly football show, bringing you the best goals, biggest fans and funniest fails from across the EFL. New episodes of Nick Kicks premiere on Friday evenings at 6:00pm on Nicktoons.
Viewers will be able to watch Akai at Wembley on Nick Kicks which airs at 6:00pm on Friday 2nd June on Nicktoons.