A Walsall football fan received a major shock when his girlfriend proposed on the Saddlers pitch in front of more than 3,000 people.

Sharon Harris popped the question to a stunned Chris Walker, from Great Wyrley, at Walsall’s Banks’s Stadium on Saturday – and the lifelong supporter said ‘yes’.

Club officials staged a spoof half-time competition to get Chris onto the pitch before Sharon, his girlfriend of seven years, emerged to make her leap-year proposal.

Sharon, a hairdresser from Wednesbury, said: “I have been planning it for a couple of months and I had to plan it with one of his friends to make it happen.

“We had to pretend his friend had some free tickets to make sure he was in the right stand. I had the idea to do it because it was a leap year and I had a good feeling that he would say yes. I can’t stand football but I know that Chris loves it so I thought that Walsall would be a good place to propose.”

Chris, an occupational health worker, had no idea Sharon was at the match until she appeared on the pitch at half-time. The 27-year-old said: “The man with the microphone said ‘do you recognise this lady’ but I didn’t see Sharon to start with. When I did  I couldn’t believe it. The fans heard how shocked I was and I had to apologise for my language.”

Saddlers beat Wycombe Wanderers 2-0.