A lifelong Luton Town fan has fulfilled a promise to his late father after the Hatters achieved promotion to the Premier League.
Micky Hyde, 37, watched on last month as Luton were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their history after beating Coventry 6-5 on penalties in the Championship play-off final.
It was a special moment for Hyde, who made a very brave promise to his late father 20 years previously.
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“I was 16 and me and my dad were sitting in our local pub watching Luton play in 2002," he explained to Luton Today.
"I said to my dad ‘when Luton get to the Prem I’m getting the badge tattooed on my head’ and he said ‘I don’t think that will happen in my lifetime, son’.
"He died 10 years later at 49 from sudden death syndrome and since then we’ve just been climbing and now we’re here. I just knew we were going to get to the Prem in my lifetime and that’s the tattoo I wanted to get in memory of my dad."
He added: “The day after the open top bus parade, I brought a job forward doing a patio at a woman’s house and she told me she was a tattooist.
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"The next minute I heard my dad in my head saying ‘go on son, get it done’."
Tattoo artist Trudi Woodward, who didn't believe him when he opened up about his plans, eventually agreed to the inking.
"I did try putting him off having it done on his head," Woodward told BBC Three Counties Radio. "You have to work pretty quick to stop it bleeding as well, but he took it like a champ."
Three hours later and Micky was spending two hours having the badge tattooed on the back of his head in the studio.
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“I’ve got 11 other tattoos but this one was by far the worst pain," Micky said. "I had numbing cream at first but that wore off within 10 minutes and I felt like my brain was getting drilled.
“I just had my dad in my head smiling down. He would’ve been so proud. He was a local football coach for 30 years in Luton and was a steward at Kenilworth Road as well.
“There are about 160 members of my family in Luton and we’re all mad about the club."
Micky, a father-of-five, is also due to get married in August, but soon-to-be-wife Lisa has demanded that no photos are taken of them from behind on their big day.
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“I had already told my missus before we went to Wembley on the Friday ‘you do know, if we get promoted I have to get this done’. We’re getting married in eight weeks’ time and she said ‘what about the wedding?’.
“But I’d made this promise to my dad and I’m a man of my word.
“When she saw it she just thought I was mad but she knows what I’m like and she didn’t fall out with me at all. She’s a good woman and knows what my dad means to me so there was no chance of the wedding getting called off.
“But she did say there’s no way we’re getting photos of the back of my head on the wedding day."
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He added: “My five kids just love it. My youngest rang me the other day saying ‘dad, there are so many people who want to be friends with me now’.
“I’ve already told my fiancee that I’m getting LTFC tattooed on my forehead if we win the Prem this year. In my lifetime if they do win the Prem in the future I will get another tattoo but I’m not too sure it’ll be on my forehead.
“You can never say never because it’s football.
“I wish my dad was here for it. This is only the start for us. In 10 years we’ll be up there playing in the Champions League, I know we will. Every time Luton do something good, there will be a new tattoo on my body.”
Featured Image Credit: Luton Today/TwitterTopics: Luton Town, Premier League, EFL Championship
