Local Everton FC fanatic, Francis Conmy has finally gotten to visit Goodison Park to see his beloved FC play.
Francis and Eoin Mulligan travelled to Liverpool at the end of November to see Everton beat West Ham 4-0, and even got to spend some time pitchside with his heroes, including Irish star Seamus Coleman.
The touching story of Eoin and Francis's friendship reached all corners of the country and further afield earlier this year. Francis, who has Asperger's syndrome, is a regular customer of Supermac's on the Ballymahon Road in Athlone where Eoin works. Eoin has described Francis's visits as brightening up his days. As a thank you, Eoin bought Francis the new Everton jersey earlier this year with his favourite player's name on the back - Wayne Rooney.
After posting a video on Facebook of Francis's delight at receiving the present, Eoin was contacted by management at Supermac's to tell him both he and Francis would be going to watch a match at Goodison Park and meet the team.
However, when Francis fell ill and was unable to get to the game, Eoin decided to start a GoFundMe page to enable a return trip.
His target of €1,100 was smashed by Irish international and Everton star, Séamus Coleman, who sent a €2,000 donation, enabling both Francis and Eoin to finally make the trip last month.
