FMFC member and Bolton Wanderers fan Ian Fraser got the opportunity of a lifetime to present the Papa Johns Trophy to his beloved team’s captain at Sunday’s Wembley final.  

Ian received that money can’t buy prize as winner of the FM23 Papa Johns Trophy Challenge, a unique collaboration between Football Manager, Papa Johns and the EFL. Running from January to March, the Challenge encouraged FM23 players to win the Papa Johns Trophy in-game and record their success on FMFC.

Entrants that supported one of the finalists, Bolton and Plymouth Argyle, were in with a chance of presenting the Papa Johns Trophy in the Royal Box at Wembley. 

The Challenge attracted more than 5,000 entries, with Ian and Plymouth fan Matt Diggett being chosen as the potential trophy lifters. 
After receiving a demonstration of how to lift the trophy, they were accompanied on a Wembley Stadium tour by two other VIP competition winners and former Plymouth Argyle managers Tony Pulis and Dave Kemp. 

The competition winners also got to have pictures taken with Sam Allardyce and Ian Holloway before heading into the Bobby Moore suite for a three-course hospitality lunch. 

They then joined more than 79,000 fans inside Wembley for a final, the highest attended in Europe that weekend, that saw Ian Evatt’s Bolton run out comfortable 4-0 winners thanks to goals from Kyle Dempsey, Dion Charles, Elias Kachunga and Gethin Jones. 

Ian, whose great grandfather sparked his interest in Bolton, then ended his ‘perfect day’ by presenting the trophy to Bolton skipper Ricardo Almeida Santos.

You can see more highlights of the competition and the special day at Wembley on the Football Manager TikTok channel.

@footballmanager What a day out for this FMFC member 🤩 #FM23 #FootballManager #FMtok #papajohnstrophy #EFL #BWFC #PAFC #RealTalkWithCharmee ♬ Countless - Official Sound Studio

Football Manager would like to thank Papa Johns and the EFL for their collaboration of this one-of-a-kind project. Congratulations once again to Ian for his special day, as well as all the other winners across the duration of the Challenge, from those who got free pizza tokens to the rest of the VIPs who made the trip to Wembley. 

Stay tuned to FMFC as we’ve got more exciting prizes and competitions coming soon.

Photos: EFL/Shutterstock