Our popular colleague David Lyons got the surprise of his life when Liverpool footballer Virgil Van Dijk came up to him in the car park of our Bootle store and whisked him off for a VIP tour of their training ground and to meet the players.
David's brother Ian had written to the club telling them why he felt David, who's a season ticket holder and follows Liverpool home and away, deserved some recognition. The club and sponsors Nivea Men agreed, and got in touch with store manager Ian Broadfoot to arrange the surprise.
David loves chatting about football to customers in his role as a porter at the store, and was stunned when Mr Van Dijk came up to him asking for £1 for a trolley.
In this video posted by Liverpool on Facebook, David's brother Ian said: "He's a lovely lad – everyone that speaks about him speaks highly of him. He's well known in the community and anyone can strike a conversation with him. David was starved of oxygen when he was born and that led to him developing a bit differently."
Watch the video on Facebook here:
He was taken to the club's Melwood training ground, where he met the rest of the first team and manager Jurgen Klopp before being presented with a number of treats by the club and Nivea Men – including covering the cost of going to every away game until the end of the season.
Asda Bootle store manager Ian said: “David is a very popular colleague at Asda Bootle with both customers and colleagues alike. He’s hardworking, dedicated and his personality shines through in his role.
"Everybody here knows about his passion for Liverpool FC and I couldn’t think of a better person to receive this recognition. He was totally made up by this surprise and we’ve not stopped hearing about it! We’re all really proud of him."
