Coral unveils its fourth monthly Football Fan of the Year winner which has been awarded to die-hard Heart of Midlothian fan Jimmy Brown. 

As part of Coral’s Football Fan of The Year competition which was announced last November, each month of 2021 England and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer selects a winner to receive up to £1,000 to spend on football experiences of their choice.

At the end of the season, he’ll also choose from our monthly winners to pick the ultimate Football Fan of the Year who’ll win up to £10,000 in prizes to fuel their passion for the game.

April winner, Brown was shocked at the revelation he had won the award as unbeknownst to him, he was nominated by friend Stuart. 

Brown’s nephew Alan has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair but, the video states: “this does not stop the pair traveling thousands of miles a season often late into the night, Jimmy ensuring they rarely miss a game no matter how great the challenge might be.” 

For almost 20 years now, Brown has made a round trip of on average 200 miles to pick Alan up, take him to the Hearts games and return him home afterwards. 

Whether attending a home match at Tynecastle or a long-distance away fixture, Brown will often drive late into the early hours of the morning, even on work nights.

Revealing why he nominated Brown for the award, friend Stuart stated: “I don’t think I’ve met somebody who cares for somebody else’s love of football as much as he does. Not only does he care for his nephew in terms of helping out with the family but helping out with the football and taking Alan to the football, it never ceases to amaze me just how much he wants to help and how much he wants to do for him.” 

Taking home the £1,000 prize, Brown has said he’d love to use the money to visit Wembley in June to see England v Scotland in Euro 2021, joking that the hotel alone might cost that much.

If he were to win the £10,000 prize for our overall Football Fan of the Year winner, Brown says he might use it to buy a season ticket for his second club – Liverpool.

This year’s other winners include: Rob Lowndes, January’s winner, who set about saving his local grassroots football club Whyteleafe FC as it faced closure during the first stages of the global pandemic.

Joe Bass, February’s winner, who embarked on a life-altering journey in 2010 after following England to the World Cup in South Africa.

March’s winner was awarded to Suzanne Mulvey, A 37-times capped Scotland international, talking through her career playing for both Celtic and Glasgow City, before captaining Motherwell Ladies and  during lockdown founded Sentinel Sports, a company that assists young athletes and helps them to turn their passion into a professional career.