Some moments stay with you forever.
For everyone connected with Joseph’s Goal, 11 May 2013 is one of them.
Wigan Athletic were preparing to face Manchester City in the FA Cup Final at Wembley, and four-year-old Joseph Kendrick had been chosen as the Latics’ lead mascot.
Wigan captain Emmerson Boyce was supposed to push Joe onto the pitch in his wheelchair.
Instead, he picked him up.
In front of more than 86,000 people at Wembley and millions watching at home, Boyce carried Joe out in his arms.
“He was one of us”
Years later, speaking to BBC Sport about Wigan’s historic FA Cup run, Emmerson explained what that moment had meant to him.
He remembered walking out with Joe in his arms and said that, despite the wall of noise inside Wembley, Joe actually helped calm him down.
Boyce had his own personal understanding of what Joseph’s family lived with. His son Jayden had previously spent time in hospital on a ventilator, giving him a glimpse of the fear and uncertainty Paul and Emma faced every day.
He told the BBC:
“He was not just our mascot, he was one of us.”
For Boyce, Joe represented the courage, togetherness and belief that had come to define Wigan Athletic’s cup run.
A day that became part of Wigan history
What happened next hardly needs explaining to Latics supporters.
Wigan Athletic went into the final as huge underdogs against Manchester City.
Then, in injury time, Ben Watson rose to meet Shaun Maloney’s corner and headed Wigan into FA Cup history.
The final score was Manchester City 0, Wigan Athletic 1.
Emmerson Boyce and club captain Gary Caldwell lifted the FA Cup together as Wigan Athletic celebrated the first major trophy in the club’s history.
And Joe had been there at the very start of it.
A friendship that continued
That day at Wembley wasn’t the end of Emmerson’s relationship with Joseph’s Goal.
More than a decade later, he continues to support Joe, Paul and Emma and regularly returns for the Joseph’s Goal Latics Legends games.
Following the 2026 match, Emmerson described it as an honour to continue supporting Joseph and helping raise awareness and funds for research into Non-Ketotic Hyperglycinemia (NKH).
In 2013, Joseph’s Goal was barely a year old.
Today, our supporters have helped us raise £1.3 million for NKH research.
A great deal has happened in between.
But the sight of the Wigan Athletic captain carrying a little boy called Joe onto the Wembley pitch remains one of the moments that will always be part of our story.
Thank you, Boycey.
