Letter of thanks winging its way from Burnley schoolboy to Prince William for arranging dream day for him to meet his Clarets goalie hero Nick Pope

Deacon Glover is writing the thank you letter to Prince William for arranging a VIP day for him and his family at Turf Moor on Sunday. Deacon (11) got to meet his hero, Clarets' goalie Nick Pope before the match against Liverpool.

Pope presented thrilled Deacon with the shirt he wore for the match, which ended 1-0 to Liverpool, but not before he signed it with his name and the poignant message 'Never Give Up.' He also gave Deacon his goalie gloves as a cherished memento of the special day.

The trip was arranged by Prince William who met Deacon when he and his wife, Kate Middleton, visited Church on the Street in Burnley last month. Founded by Pastor Mick Fleming, Deacon and his family, including his great grandmother Carole Ellis, have received support from the hub since the death of the youngster's mum, Grace who was Carole's granddaughter.

During the visit Prince William chatted to Deacon and spoke gently about how he understood what he had gone through and reassured him it would get easier. They also spoke about football and, spotting Deacon was wearing his own Pope strip, the Duke of Cambridge asked him if he would like to meet the Burnley goalkeeper. When Deacon said 'yes' the Prince promised to see what he could do.

Carole said: "When we heard that Prince William had arranged for Deacon to meet Nick Pope we were overwhelmed because we never expected anything like this to happen and we wanted to thank him properly for arranging this."

Deacon was also joined in the director's box by his grandparents, Terry and Samone Taylor, and they were introduced to club chairman Alan Pace, and even mascot Bertie Bee popped in to say hello.

Carole said: "Everyone was so welcoming, they really couldn't do enough for us. It was a special day, one that we will always remember.

"That's when we came up with the idea for Deacon to write a letter to make sure the future king knows how much he appreciated what he did for him.

"None of us could sleep properly when we got home, it was such an amazing day and we just kept re playing everything."