They were the best 24 hours of his life.

Amateur footballer Jordan Freeman spent Tuesday evening playing in a once-in-a-lifetime cup tie against his beloved Saints – before becoming a dad for the first time the next day.

The self-employed electrician’s girlfriend, Jess Tweney, was in labour when BTC Southampton kicked off their glamour tie against Saints U23s in the Southampton FA Senior Cup.

Jordan put in an impressive display in defence as a strong Saints team was restricted to a 6-0 win at the club’s state-of-the-art training ground in Marchwood.

By lunchtime the next day, the 24 year-old was dad to Theo Bobby Freeman, who weighed in at 6lb 7oz at the Princess Anne Hospital, Southampton.

“They were the best 24 hours of my life,” said Saints fan Jordan.

“When I saw the date of the game I was worried it would be a problem, being a couple of days before the due date.

“To be able to play was amazing but being a dad is an even better feeling.”

Jordan left the couple's home in Sholing to work in London at 5am on Tuesday.

“I rushed straight back when she went into labour at 8am,” he said. “I spent the day helping her and offered to stay but she wouldn’t let me, she knew how much it meant to me to play against Saints.

“So I gave my phone to our manager to make sure he gave me any updates. When I rang at half-time the contractions were happening every four minutes. At full-time they were every three minutes.

“Even the Saints manager, Danny Butterfield, was asking if the baby was born yet!

“We were given a bit of a lesson by Saints but were buzzing after the game. We were at The Pilgrim Inn in Marchwood when I got the call from Jess’s mum saying they were taking her to hospital and that they’d meet me there!

“I got to the Princess Anne at 10.45pm and Theo arrived at 1.07pm on Wednesday afternoon – it was a long labour!”

BTC have a league cup game this weekend, against Braishfield at their home ground on Stoneham Lane.

“I’m hoping to play,” smiled Jordan.

* Jordan will be sending a pic with Jess included