‘Safe Sid’ was the winning entry to the Derbyshire FA’s competition, where U18s across the county were given the opportunity to design an official mascot.

The winning designer was none other than nine-year-old Michael Taylor, who brought Sid to life, and had him “diving for protection”.

There were lots of fantastic entries to the competition, meaning it was a very tough decision to pick a winner, but ‘Safe Sid’ was carefully selected by the Derbyshire FA staff, and Michael will now receive some brilliant prizes for his efforts.

Not only will he be given two free tickets to see his favourite team, Derby County FC, he will also get a signed Derby shirt, and a tour of the club’s training ground and stadium.

‘Safe Sid’ will now also act as the face of safeguarding in the county, and will be attached to all future safeguarding materials produced by the Derbyshire FA, including posters, stickers, handouts, club guides, and much more.

‘Safe Sid’ will also lead the upcoming kids corner on the Derbyshire FA website, which is currently still under construction, but will eventually contain lots of great activities and information for children playing football in Derbyshire.

Jenny Blewitt, Designated Safeguarding Officer at the Derbyshire FA, said: "We had a fantastic response to this years poster campaign and the quality of entries, yet again, made it very difficult to pick a winner.

"So a huge congratulations to Michael, ‘Safe Sid’ is a very worthy winner and will be utilised as the ‘Face of Safeguarding’ for the County FA."

Keep an eye out for Sid in the future!