Jermain Defoe had held hands with hundreds of mascots as he walked countless small boys and girls down tunnels and out on to pitches before high profile matches. The England striker was invariably attentive and kind but, once kick-off arrived and the infant mascots raced towards their families waiting proudly on the touchline, that was pretty much that.
Everything changed in September 2016 when a frail six-year-old boy entered Sunderland’s dressing room at the Stadium of Light before a game against Everton and spotted his hero. “Bradley ran over to me and sat on my lap and we started talking about my boots,” says Defoe. “We had an instant connection. It’s hard to explain but it was different, it was magical.”
