Few footballers find reasons to rejoice after being substituted - but Wigan Athletic’s Ryan Colclough was relieved to get off the pitch just in time to witness the birth of his son last night.
“Colclough said he was not ‘too worried’ going into the match as a scan earlier on Tuesday indicated it could be a ‘couple of days’ before the arrival,” the BBC reports.
But soon after the start of the match against Doncaster, Colclough received a nod from his father - a signal that his wife’s waters had broken. Nonetheless, he went on to score two goals before being substituted and running down the DW Stadium tunnel, still in his Wigan kit, to head for the hospital.
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“With fatherhood clearly on his mind, he had celebrated his double score with a baby-cradling arm gesture,” Sky News said. He arrived with 30 minutes to spare.
“It was a great feeling,” he said, and his wife and second son, Harley, are “doing very well”.
Twitter users, including teammates Shaun MacDonald and Max Power, congratulated Colclough on his new arrival.
Many applauded his ability to lead his team to victory and witness his son's birth, all within a couple of hours:
