Buddies fan Andrew through to commentating competition final

Mar 11 2010 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express

A YOUNG St Mirren fan swapped the black and white stripes of his heroes for the claret and blue of Aston Villa.

Schoolboy Andrew Quinn has won his way through to the final five of the Junior Voice of Football competition organised by the Birmingham football club.

The 12-year-old entered the contest after his dad spotted it in the Paisley Daily Express.

He uploaded a video of his commentary on a clip of football to the Visit Birmingham website and was picked by a panel of expert judges to go through to the final.

The finalists, all under 16, were in Birmingham last night to watch the local derby between Aston Villa and Birmingham City reserve teams.

A five-minute commentary from each of them will be uploaded to the Visit Birmingham website where members of the public can vote for their favourite.

And Andrew should have good practice of commentating on live games as his proud dad Brian revealed.

He said: “If he’s watching football on the telly or the FIFA computer game, he turns down the commentary and gives his own version of events.

“I saw the feature about the competition in the Express and thought it would be the sort of thing he would be interested in.”

Andrew lives in Gallowhill, Paisley, with his mum Linda, 47 and Brian, 55, and is the only Scot through to the final.

A first year pupil at Trinity High School, in Renfrew, Andrew is a season ticket holder for St Mirren and often goes to games with Brian, who is also a season ticket holder, and his older brothers Martin, 15 and Peter, 20.

All four are also going to the Co-operative Insurance Cup final between St Mirren and Rangers on Sunday, March 21.

Andrew plays for Elderslie Amateurs and would love to have a career in football.

Before heading down south, Brian said: “Andrew was delighted to get through to the final but I have to admit my first reaction was to think, ‘Do we have to go all the way down to Birmingham?’ It was made plain to me that I wouldn’t be forgiven if we didn’t go down there!

“He’s excited about the whole experience. He wants to buy an Aston Villa top when we’re there.

“Andrew’s never been a Villa fan but I think the competition has got him quite excited and he wants a souvenir of the experience.”

Andrew is competing for the top prize of the competition – an all-expenses-paid trip to Birmingham for the winner and their family, a tour of the city, a behind-the-scenes tour of Villa Park and hospitality tickets to an Aston Villa game.

The Junior Voice of Football was open to under-16s with an interest in the beautiful game and this is the first year it’s been run.

To vote for Andrew and find out more about the competition, go to www.visitbirmingham.com