IT was a match made in heaven at Redditch United on Saturday, as a very nervous man asked his football-fan girlfriend to marry him when the half time whistle went.

Simon Ward, aged 31, from Winyates Green, was thrilled when Rachael Kimberley, who turned 23 on the day, made it known he was her man of the match and said yes.

Following a whirlwind romance, Mr Ward decided to ask Miss Kimberley to marry him at Redditch United, where she and members of her family serve on the committee.

His bride-to-be, a nursery nurse, had said in the past that she would like to be proposed to at Old Trafford, as she is a huge Man U fan, but said afterwards that she thought being proposed to in front of all her family and friends at the Redditch United ground was far better.

Mr Ward said: “I refuse to even dance along to the “Michael Jackson Experience” on the Play Station when its only Rachael and a couple of friends in the room with me, but I was determined to stand up and ask Rachael to marry me in front of all the people at the match.

“I was extremely nervous, and then my mic didn’t work properly, but it was something I just had to do, and I’m so glad I did it.”

The couple have no firm arrangements organised for the wedding at this early stage but will be holding an engagement party at Redditch United’s ground on Bromsgrove Road.

Sadly Redditch United went out of the FA Cup with a 0-2 score against Hednesford Town in their match on Saturday, but at least one person scored the goal of their lives.