A dad has told the touching story of how Ayr United's new signing became a hero to his daughter.
Londoner Ryan Gondoh left behind the bright lights of the capital last week to sign on at Somerset Park.
But his biggest fan – six-year-old Rose Thomas – is already plotting her maiden trip to Scotland to cheer on her favourite player.
Rose, who has autism, became a devoted follower of Gondoh during his stint at English non-league side Whyteleafe.
Dad Dan, who works as the Surrey club's video analyst, told the Ayrshire Post: "Because Rose is autistic, being around large crowds and noise was never something she wanted.
"So I took her down to watch my club, Whyteleafe, as we were only getting around 150 fans and she quickly took to Ryan.
"The first day she was there, he scored two goals and Rose took an immediate shine to him.
"She would wave him off the pitch at the end of every game and Ryan quickly picked up on that and came across to say hello.
"He just knew how to be around her and had an amazing nature that made her feel at ease, and arranged for her to get a club scarf and things like that.
"When the season was cut short due to Covid, she was devastated as she could no longer go along to watch him."
Gondoh has now made the move north to pursue full-time football at Ayr and his Whyteleafe fan club are pledging to follow in his footsteps.
Dan, 33, said: "When I saw he'd joined Ayr, the first thing I did was get on the phone to the club and sponsor his shirt.
"He came through the youths at Whyteleafe and is technically the best player we've probably had.
"It's easy to look at his career and think he's kicked around clubs but that's just the nature of non-league down here, there is such a high turnover of managers and players every season.
"Ryan has just needed that chance at full-time level to go and prove himself and hopefully he gets that now at Ayr.
"The fans will love him – he wears his heart on his sleeve and has the ability to get people off their seats."
Dan added: "I've had to explain to Rose that Ryan is now up in Scotland but she's very excited about coming up on a trip to see him.
"We're hoping to get up and watch a game later in the season and cheer him on.
"We live close to Gatwick so we'll fly up to Glasgow then come down on the train and stay in a hotel and make a real holiday out of it."
United commercial manager Martin Tocker said: "We were thrilled to hear from Dan so soon after Ryan's signing was announced.
"The regard in which he holds Ryan is evident and we look forward to welcoming Dan and little Rose to Somerset at the earliest possible opportunity."
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