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Surprise half-time proposal in front of thousands

Alice CunninghamEssex
News imageContributed Two women stand together and smile at the camera in front of rough sea on a grey day. They both wear black coats. One woman wears a beanie hat and the other has dark hair and sunglasses. Some buildings can be seen behind them.Contributed
Amy Cross (left) said she had no idea Amy Nettleship (right) was going to propose to her during the Southend United game

A football fan was given the shock of a lifetime when her partner proposed to her on Southend United's pitch in front of almost 9,000 spectators.

Amy Nettleship, 38, has worked at the football club for the past 22 years and started planning her proposal to partner Amy Cross at the start of the season.

She set the date for the last game of the season - which was against Wealdstone on Saturday - but Cross, 30, beat her to it and proposed first in December.

Still determined to go through with her own proposal, Nettleship got down on one knee at half-time, leaving them both overwhelmed.

News imageContributed Two women are dressed in costumes similar to Thing One and Thing Two characters from Dr Seuss's Cat in the Hat books. They wear blue wigs with red tops and sunglasses One of the women's tops says Amy 1 and the other says Amy 2. They are standing in football stadium stands with their arms raised in celebration as they smile at the camera.Contributed
Both Nettleship and Cross follow Southend United

Nettleship, who works as a turnstile supervisor, introduced Cross to the club when they got together almost three years ago.

At the start of this season she began plotting the proposal, but Cross surprised her at the Enlightened winter lights show at Hylands Park in Chelmsford.

"I didn't have a clue [she was going to propose]," Nettleship explained.

"[But] then she said, 'I want the same thing back'."

News imageContributed A woman is down on one knee proposing to another woman. They stand in the middle of a large, circular light display. They are both wearing black coats and black trousers.Contributed
Cross managed to propose first back in December during a visit to a Christmas light display in Chelmsford

Nettleship, who lives in Southend, got permission from the club to go through with it during the half-time challenge on the pitch.

Cross had no idea what was coming.

"It was pretty much a normal day, my normal football day," explained Cross, who lives in Rochford.

"I went to the pub with my friends before the game, didn't think anything of it.

"The first half happened, then she said to me, 'I'm going to do the half-time challenge, could you possibly film it?'.

"I wasn't particularly fond of going on to the pitch in front of loads of people, but I thought I'll do it."

News imageContributed A woman places a ring on another woman's finger in front of two photographers on a football pitch. One woman wears a black jumper with sunglasses and black trousers. She has dark hair that is tied back. The other woman wears a black cap, sunglasses, a pink T-shirt and black trousers.Contributed
The women said they had been left emotional from their proposal at half-time

Nettleship took a shot during the challenge, but quickly got down on one knee to pop the question, which she described as "magical".

The fans were quick to applaud the couple, and hundreds of supportive messages have been left in response to Southend United's subsequent posts on social media.

"It's quite overwhelming actually and it's nice to show inclusivity in such a male-dominated place. I think that's quite a big thing," Cross added.

"It's still a bit of a shock, I'm still a bit lost for words."

They aim to get married in May 2028, with Nettleship confirming there would definitely be some sort of football theme.

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