A YATE schoolboy who suffered a stroke as a baby, has spoken of his absolute joy at scoring twice for his beloved Manchester United in a community match at Yate Town, after his mum won a silent auction for him to play.

Oliver Stacey, 12, put on a Manchester United shirt to walk out for the legends team after the manager, Champions League winner David May, gave him a goal-scoring pep talk.

The Yate Academy student has had a lifetime of medical battles after suffering a stroke as a baby which left him with irreversible brain damage.

Mum Sarah, said the stroke caused him to develop right side cerebral hypoxia meaning his brain was starved of oxygen and didn’t develop correctly.

Despite having the mental age of a seven-year-old, the plucky pre-teen, who also has autism and dyslexia, put in a solid performance for the legends scoring two of their three goals.

Sarah said Oliver had developed a huge love of football and is one of Manchester United’s biggest fans and that playing for the legends was the ‘best day of his life’

Sarah said she saw the bidding for the silent auction on Facebook and put in a bid, but didn’t expect to win.

She said: “I bid but I didn’t dare tell Oliver, just in case he didn’t win, I was checking my emails every hour and when we finally got the yes I was over the moon.

“Oliver is a huge Man United fan, one of his dreams is to go to Old Trafford- so when I saw Yate Town on Facebook I just knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for him.

“When I told him he had won his face was a picture- it was just amazing when I told him, he thought I was joking.

“He hasn’t stopped talking about it since, I want to thank all the players and the manager for the way they treated him- it was just incredible for him, the memories will last forever.

Oliver said: “I had to wait for my turn but when I stood with my coach (David May) he told me to get out on the pitch and have fun, I thought he was a very interesting man and a good coach, I told him I would try to be helpful”.

Oliver credited May with inspiring him to score.

He added: “My coach told me he needed me to score a goal.

“I didn’t think I would get any goals and then I got two- but I got my confidence from the coach.”

It was the best day of my whole life, I loved it so much.”