Logan Lightning football captain Daley Kemel surprised his long-term girlfriend by proposing on-field during the coin toss at Cornubia Park last Friday night.
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The 28-year-old took the plunge and asked his sweetheart Rebecca White for her hand in marriage after eight years of dating.
Rebecca was about to give the coin toss when Daley got down on one knee with a microphone in one hand and a small white box in the other.
“Bec, you know we’ve been together for over eight-and-a-half years. You know I love you very much,” he said.
When the time came for Daley to pop the question, he was joined by his teammates who stood behind Rebecca wearing white shirts spelling out the words "will you marry". Daley lifted up his jersey to reveal another shirt underneath with the word “me” printed across his chest.
Daley said he had no doubt that Rebecca would say "yes", although he was initially worried the surprise would be spoiled by word of mouth.
“I wasn’t nervous about it in that I knew what her answer would be but nervous because I was in front of everyone and wanted everything to go down as I planned.
“My teammates were more nervous than me having to line up in the right order so the words would read right.”
The proposal was a week in the planning, but Daley told his teammates only an hour before the big moment.
“I wanted as little people to know as possible that way it could stay secret and there’d be less of a chance Bec finding out,” he said.
Daley first met Rebecca nearly a decade ago when her brother introduced them.
“I played football with her brother so that’s how I meet her,” he said. “Back then she was the one chasing me.”
Sports cameraman and founder of PaulyTV Paul Van Dyk caught the proposal on camera and posted the video on his Vimeo channel yesterday. The video has already garnered over 800 views.
“Originally it was a different plan. He wanted to propose in the clubhouse but I couldn’t get my camera in and out in enough time to also shoot the game," Mr Van Dyk said.
He said the number of views on his Vimeo channel had doubled since he posted the video.
"The live reaction was great. Some knew about it, but a lot didn’t," he said.
“The previous team that played waited outside the showers, because they knew it was coming and didn’t want to miss it.”
Over the weekend Rebecca shared the good news on social media by posting a picture of herself and her new fiancé on Facebook with the caption “All my dreams have come true. We couldn't be happier!”
Logan Lightning went on to beat the University of Queensland team 3:2 and is looking to climb the ladder board of the Brisbane Premier League next week to end the season in fifth position.
