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HOOPS & DREAMS
I got Kasper Schmeichel’s goalie gloves and want to be Celtic No1 one day – my dad said it was better than beating Barca
He's just signed for a team in Ireland!
FOR many Celtic fans, the night they beat Barcelona in the Champions League back in 2012 just can't be beaten.
But for one Hoops-mad family, Kasper Schmeichel has given them a memory that now tops the lot.
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Summer signing Schmeichel, 37, handed his goalie gloves to young fan Michael Downey on Sunday against Kilmarnock, a moment that was captured live on TV by Sky Sports.
Eight-year-old Michael was attending the Premiership opener with his dad, Joe, 37.
The pair travelled over from Belfast to see the league champions raise the flag.
Michael and Joe were overcome with excitement as the Danish international headed in their direction at full-time during the team's customary lap of honour.
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And they were left stunned as he began to gesture for the youngster to take his gloves, which are personalised.
Joe revealed that he had actually brought along a pair of his son's own gloves to the game with him, in the hope that Schmeichel would sign him.
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But they ended up with much more than they bargained for.
Michael is an aspiring keeper himself and as if he wasn't already, Schmeichel is definitely his favourite player now.
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Joe told The Scottish Sun: "I had Michael's own gloves, I brought them over to give to Kasper to sign. I had them out and Michael had his goalkeeper kit on and we stood at the wall.
"Funnily enough, we actually never sit there, we always sit in the main stand. Or we would sit in the green room.
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"So what happened was I actually changed my tickets to sit behind the net. I swapped it with someone else so we sat there and then obviously I knew that the team do the lap at the end of the match.
"We were standing on the wall and I showed Kasper Michael's gloves and then he ran over and took the gloves off, pointed at Michael and then threw the gloves towards us.
"He wanted to make sure he got them."
The gloves are personalised, with the flag of Denmark and the names of Schmeichel's children imprinted on them.
Joe said: "That's actually even better than them being signed, if you know what I mean."
A Sunday League goalkeeper and a lifelong Hoops fan himself, Joe told of how Schmeichel's gesture now ranks as not only his favourite Celtic memory, but the best day of his LIFE.
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He said: "I've seen Celtic beat Barcelona, been at loads of Champions League matches at Celtic Park, I went to the Copenhagen away game which was amazing but I can honestly say that Saturday was the best day of my life. It was awesome.
"What some people don't understand is that I'm a goalkeeper too and I've been training Michael.
"So I couldn't believe it because really all I'm asking for is a signature, and then he's giving me something that's so powerful. It's so powerful.
"They are gloves that were designed for him, you know what I mean?
"And I know about gloves, I know that just to buy them they are £240 a pair!"
The father and son duo don't always get to attend games together.
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Joe attends every home match that he can but Michael, who signed for the youth academy of NIFL Premiership side Cruasders just last week, usually plays football on Saturdays so has to miss out unless it's a Sunday or midweek fixture.
Before they even left the ground, Joe had received tonnes of messages from people who saw him and Michael on TV.
He said: "To be honest, before we left the ground to get the bus that headed back to the boat, I must've had maybe 100 text messages.
"I'll say, and this was coming from my business phone, so people who actually buy food from my dog food business, were like 'I'm not texting about food, I'm actually texting about seeing the wee lad on the TV!'"
Michael's former hero was ex-Celtic No1 Joe Hart.
He was gutted when the former England international announced his retirement but has learned plenty of tips from him - and now Schmeichel - from their time at Celtic.
Michael said: "I felt really bad for Joe when he said he was going to retire.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
"I've learned lots of things from Joe and Kasper, about doing good drills and learning how to be a better keeper.
"My dream is to be a keeper for Celtic."
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