Nottingham Forest will make their first appearance at the new Wembley stadium as one Reds fan flies the flag for the City Ground – in an FA Cup gaming tournament.
Joe Soltysik, 23, from Carlton, signed up for the FA Newsletter months ago for England tickets when an email came through offering him the opportunity to represent his favourite football team in a FIFA 17 tournament.
FIFA 17 is a football video game for PlayStation, Xbox and PC.
While Nottingham Forest battle it out for Championship survival on Sunday (May 7), Joe will be hoping he can bring the Reds home Wembley glory.
Joe said: “I had played FIFA for ages so I thought, why not give it a go.
“When I got the call asking if I wanted to come down and represent Forest I immediately said yes.”
The first round of the tournament will mirror the third round of the FA Cup with 64 teams participating; Joe faces Wigan in the opening round.
He said: “I am quietly confident, I don’t want to big myself up but I think I can do well.
“I do have to play as Forest at the end of the day so who knows what will happen.”
For the last two months, Joe has been training by only playing with Nottingham Forest when he plays against his friends.
“My mates have been playing with teams like Barcelona but it has actually gone alright, my brother doesn’t want to talk to me because I end up scrapping a 1-0 win against him quite often,” he said.
“I play five at the back to have a chance but he is getting pretty fed up with it.”
Joe says that he usually plays with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) but he has not been able to apply his usual tactics to his Forest team.
Despite his practice, Joe does not know how far it will take him on game day.
“It is hard to say how far I can go because everyone is chosen at random so it’s not professional FIFA players but I am confident in what I can do.
“The goal is not to be beat in the first round and I would really like to not lose to a child.”
All players get their travel costs down to London paid for and Joe plans to make the event a great weekend outing for him and his friends.
“I get a free trip to London and I am staying at a pub up the road from Wembley with my mates.
“I think my mates are just excited to walk around the stadium.”
The early rounds will be taking place in places around Wembley stadium like the changing rooms, the player’s tunnel and the royal box with the final being played on the pitch using the big screens inside the stadium.
Along with the accolade of being FIFA champion, the winner of the tournament will receive VIP tickets to the FA Cup final in May.
“It would be a dream to play the final on the pitch.
“I have been playing FIFA for ages so I am hoping all those hours and hours in a dark room will pay off.”
