Bristol boy is official Manchester City mascot

Football-mad Bristol boy Louis Britton's dreams will come true when he gets to walk out with his favourite team this weekend.

The eight-year-old has won a competition to be the official mascot for Manchester City's Premiership game against Birmingham at St Andrews on Sunday afternoon.

The Brislington boy will stroll on to the pitch alongside City captain Kolo Toure in front of thousands of fans, and as a bonus he could be seen on TV because the game will by shown live on Sky Sports.

"I can't wait to walk out on the pitch, it will be amazing," said Louis, of Hardenhuish Road. "My favourite players are Stephen Ireland, Shay Given and Emmanuel Adebayor."

Louis follows in his dad Geoffrey's footsteps by supporting Manchester City, who are now one of the richest clubs in the world.

He is a member of the junior section, called live4city, and won an online competition using his expert knowledge of Joe Hart, who is on loan at Birmingham from City.

When Louis' mum Tina Barnes got the call to say he had won she was so excited she couldn't even wait for him to come home from St Anne's Junior School.

She said: "I got the call and I had to phone up the school and get him out of class to tell him. I was so excited I just had to tell him straight away.

"This is a dream come true for Louis. He's supported Manchester City ever since he was old enough."

Louis plays midfield for AEK Boco, who play in Hanham and Kingswood, and also trains for Bristol City Academy.

He loves nothing better than watching Man City though, and has his fingers crossed that this year they can finally finish above arch rivals Manchester United in the league. Earlier in the season he entered another competition and won tickets to Man City against Chelsea.

All of the family are looking forward to Sunday's game. Mum and dad, brother Charlie, five, half-brother Lee and family friend Andy Purnell will all be at the game, which kicks off at 4pm. But Charlie is not quite as mad about football just yet.

Tina added: "Unfortunately, Charlie has not yet followed in Louis' footsteps. He prefers pop music."