THE 11-YEAR-OLD son of an injured Royal Anglian soldier has been named as Swindon Town’s only mascot in today’s big match.

Matthew Harrod, a huge fan of the club, will walk out alongside Town players before the 3pm match during, what his mum called, a “once in a lifetime opportunity”.

Matthew, pictured, was chosen because he is the son of Wayne Harrod, a soldier who had part of his leg torn off during a UK-based 2001 training mission for Afghanistan.

The 40-year-old is part of BLESMA (British Limbless Ex Servicemen Association) which has close ties to Swindon Town.

Wayne said he was a little more than shocked to find out that his boy would be the one and only mascot for the club’s biggest game in the past 17 years.

The 40-year-old dad, from Melksham, who still serves in the army, said he and his son were over the moon about the opportunity.

He said: “He has been telling all his friends, and although no one believed him, they do now because he’s got the proof.

“This opportunity is fantastic, it was really unreal when we found out about it.

“The whole family are fanatical fans.

“It usually takes years for mascots just to get onto the pitch nevermind making it to Wembley for the play-off final.”

Matthew’s mum, Sam said although her son was nervous about it she was confident that he would do a great job on the big occasion.

She said: “I think it is a bit overwhelming for him to think of all those thousands of fans, but he is ecstatic about it all.”

Swindon Town marketing and promotions executive Adam Wainwright said: “A lot of clubs auction or sell off these mascot packages for big games like this, but we decided we didn’t want to benefit financially from it.

“Instead we wanted to offer it our into the community for a young person who really deserves it.

“We decided to use our close contacts within the armed forces through the number of military days we have held over the last two seasons, raising money for the Help For Heroes charity.

“We wanted to find someone who may have had a tough couple of years with their mum or dad injured in the recent conflicts.

“So we were pointed in the direction of the Harrod family and Matthew.

“His dad Wayne was injured while serving for the Royal Anglians, and has been very active in raising money for the charity BLESMA.