'What a guy!' - Gesture by Crawley Town star leaves young Mansfield Town fan 'gobsmacked'

When the 25-year-old Gordon was at the Stags, he was seven-year-old Brendan Cliff’s favourite player. They used to chat during the warm-up before games and followed each other on social media – Brendan even had his hair cut and braided like his hero’s. After right-back Gordon was sold to join Crawley Town in January, Brendan was “gutted”, according to dad Jay.

But his return to the One Call Stadium for Crawley’s League Two match against Mansfield last Saturday led to a memorable reunion. Jay, aged 35, said: “Before the game, Kellan came over and made a fuss of him, had photos taken and said he’d get him a signed shirt.

“At the end, after Crawley had been hammered, Kellan walked off and we thought he’d forgotten all about it. But that night, he messaged me on Instagram to say sorry. He asked me to send our address and promised he’d hand-deliver a shirt the next day while he was still in the area. Although he lives down south, he still has a house in Derby.

“I was a bit dubious and thought he surely won’t do that. But he did. He came to our house, had a kickabout with Brendan and gave him the last Stags shirt he had from his time at Mansfield, signed by himself.”

Brendan plays for Stags’ under-sevens’ pre-academy side and Gordon’s gesture capped an amazing Sunday for Brendan because his side also won the league with a win in which he scored two goals and was named player-of-the-match!

“He was buzzing,” said Jay, an operations manager at a power station in Tuxford. “He told me Kellan visiting him to give him the shirt was something he will never forget. He was gobsmacked.

“My lad absolutely loved him at Mansfield and they built up a fantastic relationship. This was such a nice thing to do. What a guy!”

Brendan and his dad, who are both season-ticket holders at Mansfield, plan to stay in touch with Gordon and follow the rest of his career.

In the meantime, they are hoping to celebrate promotion for the Stags via another trip to Wembley next month. “We think they’ll do it this year,” said Jay.