IT'S usually the case that football fanatics Graeme and Lee Warner are cheering on their beloved Manchester City - so imagine their shock when their favourite player turned up to watch them play.
Blues supporters Graeme (49) and his son Lee (16), of Ferndale Avenue, Whitefield, regularly attend matches at the City of Manchester Stadium to see their hero Elano hit the back of the net.
But roles were reversed last Thursday when the 26-year-old forward came to show his support for two charity football games in which the pair were playing in.
Graeme said: "Lee goes to Manchester Grammar School so, each year, we organise games for charity. We had a parents against staff game and a former pupils against present-day pupils match."
"We were trying to get a player to come down to support the event but to be honest, none of us thought Elano would be able to find the time to turn up, so we were all surprised to see him standing on the sidelines.
"Lee and I are both keen City fans and we enjoy watching Elano and the other players in the Premier League, so to have him come down to watch us is incredible.
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"He was brilliant and said he would have brought his boots for a game if he knew he could have joined in."
Not only was Graeme able to get some expert tips on how to improve his game from Elano, who has scored seven times for City this season, he was also able to get an insight into the Brazilian's experience of life in England.
He added: "Elano speaks Portuguese and his English isn't great so he was talking through an interpreter, but he said he is enjoying life here and definitely wants Sven-Goran Eriksson to stay on as manager."
The matches raised more than £1,000 for Macmillan Nurses, which helped the school's former caretaker Stuart Dale before he died of cancer in 2005.
Jonathan Bernstein, of Sunnybank captained the Old Boys team, who lost 2-0 to the present-day team. Parents beat staff 2-1.
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