IT IS every Saints fan’s dream to meet some of the clubs legendary players, but for one youngster the hard part was getting his friends to believe him.

Eleven-year-old Ben Shaw has been going to the Matt le Tissier Natural Coaching Academy for the past four years and been taught by some of the best in the business, but some of his friends did not believe that he actually attended the academy or that he knew Le God himself.

To prove it once and for all, Ben’s parents asked le Tissier if he would drive him to his Year Six leavers prom at Oakwood Primary School.

To their surprise, he said yes and shocked pupils by driving the young goalkeeper there to his school.

Ben’s mum, Claire Shaw, an account manager, said: “It was amazing, Ben has had a hard time at school, they were taking the mick out of him saying he doesn’t go to the MLT academy.

“We wanted to do something special for his prom and Ben was completely shocked, it was lovely.”

The 42-year-old from Maybush added: “He absolutely loves the academy, all the coaching staff are fantastic, Frances Benali has been there and he is lovely and so is Keith Granger, the head goalkeeping coach.

“I was hopeful Matt would say yes because he is a lovely guy, but it was a shot in the dark. But then I went into the academy and they said he would love to do it.”

But Ben was kept in the dark until the last moment.

He did not know that his hero would be transporting him to his prom until le Tissier pulled up on his drive, much to his delight and shock.

Ben said: “I was really excited and surprised, it was really good and all my friends were really impressed.

“They wanted to know how I did it. The prom was very good, but my favourite was the ride with Matt.”