Maidstone captain Lee Worgan added another medal to his dad Nigel’s collection on Saturday - the man he calls his hero.

The pair have been together every step of the way in Lee’s football career, from trips to the park after he declared he wanted to be a goalkeeper to travelling thousands of miles all over the country as he chased his dream of becoming a professional footballer.

Lee not only achieved his ambition of playing in the Football League, he also played international football for Wales under-21s, through his dad being half-Welsh.

None of it would have been possible without Nigel, who was in the crowd at Stonebridge Road as Lee saved Danny Kedwell's penalty to send Maidstone into the National League.

They could hardly be closer as father and son and Nigel has held on to everything from Lee’s career, including team-sheets, tracksuits, medals and trophies.

Lee, who was in the England Schoolboys squad before opting for Wales, was scouted by Gillingham as a child but it was the original Wimbledon who signed him.

It was a long way from the family home in Eastbourne, with games played further afield as the young keeper went through the age groups, before making his first-team debut in the 2003-4 season.

Nigel said: “He was picked up by Wimbledon and from then on I knew that would keep him out of any other trouble.

“I took him there and they said, ‘you treat us with respect and we’ll treat you with respect’ and unlike a school they treated these guys like young men.

“They were taught how to act, how to behave, they developed their personalities and I thought this would be good for him. His school were good and allowed him time off.

“I went with him all over the country but I don’t mind travelling, I’ve been travelling most of my life.

“The only downside was if Lee had a bad game for any reason, my life was not worth living all the way home.

“As we got into the car I thought, ‘well, he’s not going to talk to me for a couple of hours, until he gets this out of his system’.

“He’d say ‘Dad, don’t make excuses, just shut up and leave me alone, all right?’ He’d curl up on the back seat and go to sleep.”

Nigel has no doubt football has brought him and his son even closer.

He added: “People have said ‘Nige, you’ve made a lot of sacrifices for Lee’. I haven’t.

“I’ve never made a single sacrifice for Lee, I did it because I wanted to.

“To me, it was a joy and a pleasure, as it was for his mum. We were proud of him.

“We’ve had one hell of a close relationship as father and son, since he was nine, 10 years of age.

“Football’s brought us even closer. It must have done.

“We’ve spent so many hours, months, it probably runs into a couple of years, on the road.

“It was time we spent together and because mostly he had good games, he would talk to me on the way home!

“The football’s done me a power of good because I lost Lee’s mum a few years ago, so it’s kept up my interest, it gives me quality time to get over and see Lee.

“Quite often I’ll turn up for a midweek match, we’ll go out, shop around, have a meal, people-watch from pavement cafes, and I love it. It’s great.

“I did wonder recently what I’ll do when he retires.”

Lee, originally an outfield player, remembers going to the park almost every night with his dad in the early days as they worked on his goalkeeping skills.

As well as Wimbledon, there were spells at Wycombe, Rushden and Cardiff before dropping into non-league football.

Lee said: “My dad is my hero, just because of the time devoted.

“Like he said, I wasn’t the easiest to deal with sometimes if things weren’t going my way but he just swallowed that and got on with it.

“Sometimes you sit back and think I wouldn’t be where I was or where I am now if it wasn’t for the time he put in.

“All those years driving, it couldn’t have been easy.

“But there was obviously some belief there and he’s done wonders for me.

“He’s probably the first person I speak to after the game.

“Some away games this season he hasn’t been to, because of the distance or if it’s a night game in Basingstoke or wherever, but we always speak after the game.

“And before every single game I think for the last 10 years he says ‘go and enjoy it, enjoy playing football, have fun’ and I tend to try and keep that mindset.

“I can usually pinpoint where he is in the crowd and when we’re walking out I’ll give him a wave.

“It’s nice to know he’s there, 100%. He’s always been there. I’m used to it. It would probably be weird if he wasn’t there.”