Thursday 21 May 2015 12:08, UK
Young Chelsea fan Rachel Key will enjoy the day of her life when she presents the Premier League trophy to the champions at their game against Sunderland on Sunday.
Rachel was chosen for the honour after taking part in a community initiative supported by the club and by Premier League sponsors Barclays - but it came as a total surprise for her.
Chelsea legend and World Cup winner Marcel Desailly stunned her with the good news when he turned up unannounced at her home in South West London this week.
"I didn't even know that I was in a competition at all," said Rachel. "I just came home one day from a job interview and my friend's daughter's birthday party - I was at home for about 10 minutes and Desailly came and knocked on my door.
I thought it was some kind of wind-up when Marcel Desailly turned up at my door with the Barclays Premier League trophy.
"It was shocking, I still don't know how to take it all in now - it's a lot to take in even a week or so down the line. I don't think it's going to sink in until I actually hand the cup over to John Terry himself."
Rachel will present the trophy to her Chelsea heroes in front of more than 40,000 fans at Stamford Bridge and a likely billion people on television as part of Barclays' Spirit of the Game initiative.
She added: "I thought it was some kind of wind-up when Marcel Desailly turned up at my door with the Barclays Premier League trophy and said I was going to be giving it to the Chelsea team on the last day of the season - it's just unbelievable."
Rachel admitted, growing up she struggled with discipline and had "brushes with the law" before making a positive step to change her life by joining the Barclays Premier League Works scheme at Chelsea.
Since joining the community initiative, she has thrived and has secured a job as a football coach with pre-school football academy Little Kickers.
"Barclays asked a few of the tutors from Stamford Bridge to just put a few names forward - a little story about them - and they chose me!" Rachel explained.
Desailly said: "I love meeting fans like Rachel. She is so passionate about Chelsea and to see the look on her face when she heard what she was going to do was fantastic.
"I'm excited for her, and hope she can enjoy the lead up to the day and the big moment itself. It's going to be a very special day for her."
Nathan Homer, Head of Global Sponsorship at Barclays, added: "Rachel really deserves her opportunity and it's great that we are able to reward a genuine fan of the club."
All season, Barclays has been giving fans the chance to win tickets to their first match via the Spirit of the Game website, where they can now register to win tickets for next season. plus it has given more than 8,000 tickets to local communities in partnership with clubs.
Desailly and Rachel were also involved when Barclays surprised the Kingstonian Youth Eagles Under 13s by giving them the full Premier League trophy presentation experience following the team’s final game of the season, a 3-1 win versus Ashtead Colts, which clinched the Surrey Youth League championship.
The treat included the full Barclays Premier League trophy podium, ribbon streamers, the official champions music and replica ‘chocolate’ medals, and was led by Desailly who carried the Premier League trophy to the podium.
