Norwich City sends girl handwritten note after she misses match that clashed with first sleepover
'Sophie was chuffed to bits. She took it straight to school the next day to show her teachers'
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Your support makes all the difference.A young Norwich City fan who was forced to choose between her first Canaries match and her first sleepover received a surprise in the post after sending her ticket back to the club.
Sophie Hall, 7, was looking forward to going to her first Norwich City game on 13 January against Bristol.
She and her twin brother Monty got the tickets as a birthday present, but their plans were scuppered when Sophie got an invitation to a friend’s party.
“That was the crux of the matter,” Sophie’s father, Michael Hall, told The Independent. “The party involved her first sleepover but the match would have been her first away game.”
The family lives in South Wales, but Mr Hall grew up in Norfolk and has been a Canaries fan his whole life. “I’ve forced it on the children!” he said.
But the decision was a difficult one for Sophie, who eventually decided on the party.
She had been practising letter writing at school, Mr Hall explained, so he and her mother suggested she write to the club to explain her decision.
In her handwritten letter, she apologised for returning the ticket and wished the team luck. “Please don’t cancel my twin brother and Dads (sic) tickets as my brother is very excited for his first away game,” she wrote. “I hope to come to my first game soon.”
“I thought, ‘If she gets a response, she’ll be a very lucky girl’,” Mr Hall said. And to his amazement, she did.
Emma Wickham, a Customer Service Representative at the football club, wrote back to Sophie, wishing her fun at the party and complimenting her on her “very neat handwriting.”
Enclosed with the handwritten letter were two Canaries key rings, one for Sophie and one for Monty.
“Sophie was chuffed to bits,” Mr Hall said. “She took it straight to school the next day to show her teachers.”
He thinks she’s even more “hooked” as a Norwich City fan now.
And he was thrilled too. “It was just a normal refund transaction, but Emma went the extra mile.”
He was so impressed that he asked his friend Dan Tyte to share the letter on Twitter.
Since Tuesday, the tweet has gathered over 3,000 likes and nearly 400 retweets from people around the world.
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