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Proud grandparents are on their way to Wembley too

Proud grandparents: Bobby and Sandra Wells plan to travel to Wembley Stadium, in London, next month to watch grandson Nahki play for Bradford City in the English League Cup Final.

There’s only one place Bobby and Sandra Wells plan to be on February 24, and that’s at Wembley Stadium watching grandson Nahki and his Bradford City team mates take on Swansea in the League Cup final.Earlier this week the Bantams became the first club from the fourth rung of English football’s ladder to reach the League Cup final in 51 years after prevailing 4-3 on aggregate against Premier side Aston Villa in the two-legged semi-final.Striker Nahki, 22, scored his team’s opening goal in a 3-1 win against the Villans in the first leg at Valley Parade on January 8. Villa won the second leg 2-1 at Villa Park on Tuesday night which wasn’t enough to put them through to the final.Nahki’s grandfather was among the many local football fans that watched Bradford claim a third Premier scalp in this season’s League Cup competition on television.“He done his job and I thought they [Bradford] played good,” Bobby told The Royal Gazette. “They were in some trouble in the first half because Aston Villa came at them. But they survived the storm and after the break came back with a different attitude and played better.“Unfortunately Nahki didn’t get a goal because I was hoping he was going to score. I’m always hoping he gets a goal and so proud of him.”Wells’ grandmother broke down in tears when asked how does it feel to watch her grandson perform on the big stage.“I get so emotional when I see him play,” she said. “I wasn’t able to get to a lot of his games when he was a youngster because I played a lot of league tennis which was usually on Saturdays. When he was playing football l was playing tennis so I didn’t get to see too much of him.”Sandra said her grandson ate, slept and drank football while growing up.“He used to play football all the time, especially out in the yard with his brother [Rico],” she recalled. “I remember Rico used to get upset because Nahki would keep the ball from him and he’d be trying his hardest. It was a good camaraderie between the two of them and they love their football.”She said her grandson has long harboured an ambition of playing professional football.“This [playing professionally] is what Nahki has had on his mind from young,” she added. “It’s wonderful to see his dream become a reality but what I like most about Nahki is that he is a very humble person that’s what pleases me the most. It’s never ‘I’ but always ‘us’ or ‘we’.”Retired painter Bobby added: “He doesn’t take the glory and lets his actions speak for itself.”The couple are both looking forward to returning to Wembley.They travelled to the iconic stadium two years ago in the hope of watching their grandson play for Carlisle in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final. However, much to their dismay, Nahki was not included in the squad.“We went last time but he never played,” Bobby said. “He wasn’t in the team but this time around we hope to see him play.“Wembley is amazing and everyone in the UK wants to play at one field and that’s at Wembley.”Retired Bank of Bermuda employee Sandra added: “I’m very much looking forward to going to Wembley. We’ve been there before but we didn’t get to see Nahki play. But hopefully we will get to see him play this time.”Nahki is Bradford’s current leading goal scorer with 17 so far this term.l Read more about Nahki Wells success in Sport, Page 9