Sheffield’s Joseph Hadfield has been crowned the winner of BT Sport’s first ever Young FA Cup Presenter of the Year competition.
The 14-year-old has won the unique chance to be part of the broadcaster’s coverage of the 2014 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in May, alongside its regular presenting team led by Jake Humphrey, after he was chosen by the judging panel ahead of three other finalists.
Hadfield was informed of the news by Humphrey himself, who paid the teenager a surprise visit at his school, Yewlands Technology College, where teachers had arranged a special assembly in honour of his achievement.
He entered the nationwide competition in January by uploading a clip of himself presenting a match report onto YouTube (see above).
Hadfield was shortlisted to the final four, who attended a judging day at BT Sport’s Olympic Park studios last week.
He was selected by Humphrey and executive producer Stephen Cook as the overall winner and will now head to Wembley on May 17 to spend the day behind the scenes with the BT Sport production crew.
He will also film an interview with Humphrey to be shown during BT Sport’s coverage of the final, which will be between the winners of this weekend’s two semi-finals.
Sheffield United take on Hull at Wembley on Sunday, a game which will be shown live on BT Sport, while holders Wigan face Arsenal on Saturday.
After Humphrey delivered the news, Hadfield said: “I’m gobsmacked! I stepped into the School Hall, saw my head teacher and then out popped Jake Humphrey.”
Hadfield, who chose to read a Sheffield United match report for his initial competition entry, added: “I can’t wait to get to Wembley – I just hope I’ll be reporting on the Blades.
“I’ll be filming a short segment alongside Jake for the FA Cup Final, which is amazing as it’s my ambition to be a football presenter.
“I’ve had my family behind me and all my school mates. Wembley here I come!”
Humphrey said: “This year we have the FA Cup Final live on BT Sport and we wanted to make it special, giving a young person the chance to come and present it with me.
“Joseph was shortlisted to the final four who came to the BT Sport studios last week where we put them through their paces.
“It was a real test and I have to say Joseph shone, he came alive when we said ‘cue’.”
He added: “We tried to recreate the pressures of live television and he dealt with it brilliantly.
“I’m totally confident that when the FA Cup Final rolls around on May 17 I will have an excellent young man alongside me to help me host it.
“I’m 35 and I’ve waited for my entire career to present an FA Cup Final. Joseph, at 14 years of age, is living that dream and this could be the stepping stone to a real career for him.”
The three other finalists were Isobel Keane, aged 14 from Norwich, Jonathan Chappell, 17 from Crawley and Adam Bailey, 15 from Congleton, who as runners-up will receive FA Cup semi-final tickets and football shirts signed by the BT Sport presenting team.
BT Sport is currently covering its first season of live FA Cup football and this year’s Wembley showpiece will be the first time that the broadcaster has covered FA Cup final day.
The broadcaster will screen live matches the famous cup competition for at least the next four seasons after signing a shared deal with the BBC covering 2014 to 2018.
Watch a clip of Joseph in action at BT Sport’s Olympic Park studios here
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