As a young boy growing up in Bulgaria, Tony Petrov could never have imagined he would one day meet one of his childhood heroes.
But that is exactly what happened last week, when football legend Denis Law returned to Aberdeen, where he was born and grew up.
The former Manchester United star was in the Granite City on Friday to kick-start a project to remove “no ball games” signs from the area, in an effort to encourage youngsters to be more active.
And while he was there, he met with staff from the Denis Law Legacy Trust, who are supporting the Aberdeen Greenspace-led initiative.
Among the volunteers was Mr Petrov, who works part-time as an assistant support development officer for the charity, and his seven-month-old Alexander and partner Mihaela Micheva.
The encounter proved to be too much for the 24-year-old, who was overcome with emotion and shed tears as he shook hands with the legendary former for the first time.
And last night, the father-of-one – who studies sports development at Abertay University in Dundee – was still coming to terms with meeting one of his idols.
“It was a really emotional experience, I’ve never met anyone like him before,” he said.
“He’s our patron which made it even more special, all the hard work we put in, and what we do with the kids, it’s all part of his legacy.
“He’s a great person and is very human, he spoke with everybody there including some children that were hanging around.”
After meeting the 75-year-old, Mr Petrov immediately returned home and sent pictures of the meeting to his father, Sasho, a Manchester United fan, who still lives in Bulgaria.
He said: “He is mad about football, is a massive fan, which is the reason I’ve been playing since I was about six-years-old.
“He would pass on everything he’d learned to me, so when I was growing up I just wanted to meet these people, like Denis Law.”
“He was really emotional, for him it was a really big deal because of where I come from, and for him to see me so happy is great.”