Nathanael Ogbeta delighted to inspire young Shrewsbury Town fans with a quick kickabout
It is every Shrewsbury fan’s dream to share the pitch with one of their blue and amber heroes.
And while it wasn’t on the Meadow surface – Town starlet Nathanael Ogbeta helped make those dreams come true for a group of young fans playing football in the town’s Quarry park recently.
Ogbeta, the January signing from Manchester City who recently turned 20, was out for a walk in the town he now resides when he noticed a group of lads having a kickabout, and then realised one wore the blue and amber stripes.
The England under-20 international might be touted as a star of the future but the humble youngster saw no reason why he couldn’t join in with the football-mad youngsters.
For the teenagers – 16-year-old Town fan Ciaran Millington, from Market Drayton and a handful of pals – it was an opportunity that doesn’t present itself too often.
“I love to see the fans,” Ogbeta said. “I was in the park and playing football with a couple of Shrewsbury fans the other week. They were so nice and so encouraging. I’d love to be able to play in front of them and show what I can do.
“I had just gone for a walk to relax, I like to get my thoughts down like that.
“But I saw a guy with a Shrewsbury top and thought ‘let’s just go play’.”
Town’s young player of the season joined in with the group of four or five for a few kick-ups, a game of ‘one bounce’ and some two-touch football.
Ogbeta, who is living with his aunt and uncle in the town as the latter works at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, smiled: “I went over and they did know me, luckily enough!
“It was good, I’m just a normal boy, I don’t think of myself more than I need to.
“We’re all human, just because I may have a platform or a stage it doesn’t make me any better. Everyone has a job or a field of work.
“But it’s just to be be normal, and just be a boy.”
Ciaran told the Shropshire Star: “I’ve played the ball to this lad at the time who was looking over at us smiling so I presumed he just wanted to play footie then when he came over I thought I recognised his face. It was great speaking to him and he was proper down to earth, it was great just to speak about normal things. At the end I wished him well and so did he to me.”
Ogbeta even delighted one of Ciaran’s friends, Emrys Rowland, a Celtic fan, by setting up a video chat with former Hoops starlet Jeremie Frimpong, who now plays for Bayer Leverkusen, and was a City youth team-mate of the wing- back’s.
The youngsters shared their gratitude with Ogbeta via a thank you message on social media platform Instagram afterwards.
“They messaged me on Instagram after, saying it was good to see them and they appreciated me spending the time,” Ogbeta said. “For me it’s nothing, but at the same time to see one (half a) season in how it changes how people see you, is amazing.
“I want to keep using my platform and where I am to help and encourage and to benefit others.”
