A LIFE-LONG Blues fan will be the proudest dad at Wembley tomorrow as he watches his son lead the team out.

John Ness, 53, of Madeira Avenue, Leigh, has been following Southend United since he was six and tomorrow will see his eight-year-old son Tommy walk out with club captain John White in front of thousands of fans.

Tommy was picked as a mascot for the League Two playoff final at Wembley, which could see Southend promoted to League One, earning them a £1million payday for next season.

John put forward his son to be a mascot after seeing an advert while checking how many tickets had been sold for the final.

John said: “I’m going to be so proud up in the stands. I might get a little bit emotional.

“He’s really excited. I don’t think he realises the enormity of the stadium, with about 40,000 to 50,000 fans in there, but he’s already getting excited about it.”

John was pleased when he thought his son was just one of a number of mascots for the game, but he is over the moon after being told his son is the only Southend mascot and will lead the team out just before kick-off at 5.30pm.

John added: “We’ve been to Wembley before, but he’s obviously never been on the pitch or walked out with the teams.

I hope he can be our lucky mascot.”

It will be the father and son’s second time out at Wembley, after the duo went to the Johnston Paint Trophy final in 2013 – but both of them watched from the stands.

Mr Ness added: “In terms of games I’ve watched, I’ve been to Wembley, I’ve been to Cardiff, but this is enormous.

If we win promotion and start building the new stadium the future will be looking a lot brighter.”

Yesterday the Blues reached 19,000 ticket sales for the showpiece final. In contrast Wycombe have sold just 13,000.