Day Dan joined Carew's crew

Apr 24 2008 By Paul Bradley

WHEN Birmingham schoolboy Daniel Reynolds became a Villa ballboy he thought all his football dreams had come true.

But he never imagined that his Saturday job would one day see him celebrating wildly with his Villa heroes as they romped to a 5-1 victory over their closest rivals.

But that is exactly what happened for 15-year-old Daniel who was making his last but one appearance as a ballboy at the ground before he became too old for the job.

With Aston Villa 1-0 up and the clock counting down towards half-time Ashley Young fired the ball into the Birmingham City penalty area.

Striker John Carew diverted the ball into the net and hoisted Daniel aloft as he rushed to celebrate with the Holte End faithful.

Daniel, who is studying for his GCSEs at John Willmott School, in Sutton Coldfield, said: "I couldn't believe it when he ran over to me and picked me up to celebrate.

"And then Gareth Barry, Olaf Mellberg and Wilfred Bouma came over and I was caught up in it all.

"It was really exciting being with the players and the fans at the same time straight after the goal. The result was amazing and it was one of the best days of my life."

Sitting in the Holte End was 40-year-old dad, Marc Reynolds, a lifelong Villa fan and season ticket holder.

But it was not until he saw his son after the game that he realised Daniel had been celebrating with the players.

Mr Reynolds said: "I did not see Daniel with the players at all because everyone was jumping up and down and going absolutely mad.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw the pictures in the Birmingham Mail the next day. My wife and I are really proud of him but his younger brother is quite jealous!"