One very lucky boot boy.....

[The Reverend]

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Thanks for cleaning my boots...have a £30,000 Mercedes': Soccer star's amazing gift to boot boy

By NEIL MOXLEY and VANESSA ALLEN - More by this author » Last updated at 09:17am on 14th May 2008

Comments Comments (38)

After a season shadowing a star footballer, a lucky boot boy might find himself the recipient of some souvenir kit. Or maybe even a pair of the player's old boots.

James McPike got a Mercedes.

The football trainee, who had been assigned to Birmingham City midfielder Olivier Kapo, was stunned when he was thrown the keys of the £30,000 car and told to keep it.

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boot boy

Astonished: Boot boy James McPike

He told him he would struggle to afford the insurance for such an expensive car.

So the French international drove the disbelieving 20-year-old to his home, handed him the spare keys and log book, and then insisted on paying for a year's insurance.

It is believed to be the biggest gift ever given to a boot boy, a type of "football apprentice" who learns the ropes from a senior player and is meant to help out in return.

Looking after the boots used to be a big part of the job, although the role is a little less defined these days.

Generous footballer Oliver Kapo gave his boot boy a brand new Mercedes

A club source said James, who signed a professional contract with Birmingham City on his 17th birthday, had asked Kapo for a pair of boots to mark the end of the season.

"He was obviously disappointed when Kapo replied he had taken them home with him," the source said. "He perked up considerably when he was tossed a set of keys."

Kapo, 27, who is on a £1.5milliona-year contract at the recently relegated club, is said to have bought the Mercedes as a "run around" when he arrived in Birmingham last year.

He also has a Porsche and a Hummer.

Although top players command multi-million pound salaries, apprentice players are still relatively lowly paid. James is thought to be on about £300 a week.

Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish said he learned of Kapo's generosity only when he saw James driving the Mercedes out of the training ground yesterday.

"It was a magnificent gesture and one that's entirely in keeping with Kapo's character," he said.

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Mercedes

A little something to say thanks: A £30,000-bracket Mercedes

"He's been in Italy with Juventus, one of the biggest clubs in the world, but he clearly has not forgotten the time when he was an aspiring professional himself, hoping to go on to bigger and better things.

"As he was in such a generous mood, I asked him what he had done with the house he had left behind in Turin. Unfortunately, he smiled and said he wanted to keep hold of that."

That is a great gesture from Kapo, top man!

[purpleronnie]

When you hear of this kind of generosity why is it never from english footballers.

[MikeyT]

That is brilliant!

Mr Kapo = Nicest guy in Football?

Amazing gesture from him!

Top bloke!

[Joe.]

Yeah I saw it this morning on SSN

Great gesture from Kapo, you won't catch many other players doing that.

[Tilley]

Fair play to Kapo, if only more footballers were just as generous,

Even nicer of him after buying the car, to pay for a years insurance.

[The People's Hero]

I'd rather have had the Porsche.

[Ric Flair]

I'd sell the Merc and then stick the £30,000 on Kapo leaving in the summer.

[AyewJoking]

I'd sell the Merc and then stick the £30,000 on Kapo leaving in the summer.

No bookie would take that.

[Tilley]

Got to be £30,000 on Frank Quedrue leaving, surely?

[Tommy G]

That woule be amazing. Still makes me sick though that a below average player like him has a Hummer, Porsche and a Merc in his garage.

Shame about the hummer - no taste

[Bert]

That woule be amazing. Still makes me sick though that a below average player like him has a Hummer, Porsche and a Merc in his garage.

Shame about the hummer - no taste

You not a below average player after having played for Juventus.

[Maybes]

Fair play to the lad.

[ASH17LCFC]

You not a below average player after having played for Juventus.

Vincent Pericard

[lildave3]

Lucky bastard.

[Tevez]

Leicester players pay hundreds of quid to academy players to clean their boots. *Cough* Sappleton

That woule be amazing. Still makes me sick though that a below average player like him has a Hummer, Porsche and a Merc in his garage.

Shame about the hummer - no taste

Kapo?! Surley not, he's been decent.

[SamL]

Great gesture.

That's one very lucky boy.

[Samilktray]

That woule be amazing. Still makes me sick though that a below average player like him has a Hummer, Porsche and a Merc in his garage.

Shame about the hummer - no taste

Below average player.

Ridiculous statement.

[Koke]

He's a decent player, that Kapo lad. He can certainly hold his own in the Premiership.

[Corky]

He's a decent player, that Kapo lad. He can certainly hold his own in the Premiership.

Should he be doing that on the pitch?

[Ashley]

Nice gesture, top bloke.

[Vennegoor10]

sounds a bit overgenerous to me, what has he been getting in return?

[Koke]

Kareem-Abdul Jabbar once bought 7 Mecederes to 7 youngsters in Houston. Lucky gits.

[Dr The Singh]

Kareem-Abdul Jabbar once bought 7 Mecederes to 7 youngsters in Houston. Lucky gits.

Prince of Brunei gave all the staff(all 200 of em) on a rented luxury yacht, a gold £15k gold watch each. And he only stayed on the yacht for 4 hours!!!

[Father Ted]

Prince of Brunei gave all the staff(all 200 of em) on a rented luxury yacht, a gold £15k gold watch each. And he only stayed on the yacht for 4 hours!!!

That's one jammy kid!

And didn't Bernie Ecclestone/Flavio Briatore get all of the QPR players like £5k watches?

[hairy]

That's one jammy kid!

And didn't Bernie Ecclestone/Flavio Briatore get all of the QPR players like £5k watches?

I think you will find Ecclestone only lends things until he wants them back.