Nine-year-old Benfleet boy scores experience of lifetime as England match mascot

A FOOTBALL-mad nine-year-old boy was given the experience of a lifetime when he walked onto the pitch alongside the England team during their Euro 2024 match against Slovenia.

Charlie Cox, from Benfleet, was given the opportunity to be a match mascot in last week’s game after his mum, Lauren, won a competition with Lidl.

After entering the supermarket’s competition, Lauren initially thought she was being scammed when she received an email saying she had won a three-day all-expenses paid trip to Cologne.

Honour - Charlie Cox and Phil Foden (Image: Lauren Cox)

She said: “To win tickets you had to spend £10, I am not very lucky, but I entered it and didn’t think much of it at all.

“I got an email at the end of April and my first thought was ‘this is a scam’, this cannot be real, Charlie is absolutely football crazy. It felt like the competition was created for him.

“Lidl were fantastic. They really sorted us out with the travel, hotel and food and they gave the children clothing, sticker books, a Lidl kit and Adidas Astro football boots to keep.”

Charlie walked out on pitch alongside England attacking midfielder Phil Foden, and got to meet former England player and TV pundit Rio Ferdinand on the day.

Excitement - the mascots and Rio Ferdinand (Image: Lauren Cox)

Lauren added: “We have been to see England men and women’s games before, but we have never seen anything like this, it was a dream come true, Charlie was out on pitch taking it all in.

“Phil Foden came out and met Charlie, he asked him if he was feeling nervous and was just fantastic.

“When he woke up on the Wednesday, the first thing he said was that he hoped that it wasn’t a dream.”

Lauren and other parents were treated to a guided tour of Cologne thanks to Lidl.

“We went around the city, went to the players’ hotel and got to watch them leave and saw the cathedral,” she added.

“We’ve never been away for a game before so it was incredible, we did it with winners from all over the UK as well.”

Despite the result, a 0-0 draw, Lauren and Charlie said it was a fantastic experience.