A WORCESTER schoolboy is keener than ever to pursue a footballing career after he was chosen to be a mascot for the FA Cup final at Wembley.

Jack Pinfield, aged nine, walked onto the pitch on Saturday with Ports-mouth’s football team, holding the hand of midfielder Jamie O’Hara, before the team’s game against Chelsea.

Jack, of St Dunstan’s Crescent, Battenhall, said that despite none of the team members speaking to the mascots, everyone seemed really nice and it was a great day.

He also missed out on the chance to shake hands with Prince William, but did shake hands with all the Chelsea and Ports-mouth players.

He said: “It was really exciting. We lined up and a player came and stood next to us. Then we walked onto the pitch holding their hand. It was really good. I didn’t think I’d ever have the chance to be a mascot or go to Wembley.”

Jack, who is a goalkeeper for Nunnery Wood Colts, never watches football on TV but is a keen player, and his mum Sue said his experience at Wembley has definitely made him keen to return.

She said: “It was lovely for him to be given the opportunity to be chosen as a mascot.

“As soon as we left, he was asking if we could go back for a couple of days. He really enjoys playing and I think it’s definitely something he wants to pursue now he has been to Wembley.”

Jack, a pupil at Redhill CE Primary School in Worcester, was given the opportunity to be a mascot after his name was put forward by his football team along with two other players, to be part of a competition organised by official FA Cup sponsors E.ON.

Staff at the University of Worcester’s institute of sport and exercise science then put the three names in a hat and Jack came out as the successful winner.