Sam Osborne recently met with his old coach who has become his first sponsor since signing professional terms.
Paul Nice, the owner of local company PN Painter and Decorators, has sponsored the 19-year-old’s home kit after seeing him develop as a player throughout his teenage years.
He coached a 15-year-old Osborne at Dunkirk and was never in doubt that he’d sign professionally.
“He’s the most dedicated player I’ve seen,” said Nice.
“You always knew he was going to make it as a footballer because of how focused he is.
“You see other young lads get distracted by things off the pitch but he stayed committed to football.
“He knew what he wanted to do and even at Dunkirk he was a model professional and kept himself as fit as he could.”
Having known Osborne since the winger was 10 years old, Nice was delighted to see him get his rewards.
“I was proud to see Sam sign professionally and be settled,” he said.
“I coached him for a little bit when he was a teenager and gave him his first taste of men’s football where he’d get kicked off the park at times but you could see his quality.
“I’ve known his parents for a long time and went to school with his dad. Sam is an absolute credit to the pair of them.”
Nice doesn’t just have an affiliation with the winger, though, he’s got a history of working with Notts.
He said: “I’ve been involved with the club for a long time as well as always being a supporter.
“I try to help out however I can and sponsored the youth team to go abroad in the early 1990s.
“I used to do quite a lot of work for Mr Pavis and I decorated for Football in the Community last year too.”
Osborne himself was over the moon with the sponsorship.
“It’s the first time it’s ever happened for me which is a massive thing in itself,” he said.
“But to come from someone I know personally who has helped me along the way makes me really happy.”
As part of the sponsorship, Nice will receive a signed home shirt which he has kindly pledged to the club to raise funds for a charitable cause.
Click here to learn more about player sponsorship.