A moving family night as Steve Freer walks out with England at Wembley Stadium

Steve (65), who lives at Waltham, was one of 22 mascots chosen to help raise awareness of the condition as part of an Alzheimer’s Society campaign at the friendly international against Wales.

He walked out onto the hallowed turf next to Manchester City superstar, John Stones, and then lined up with the England team with the other mascots as the national anthems were played.

It was a moving experience for Steve’s wife Carol, his sons and grandsons, Jude (9) and six-year-old Rudi, to see it all happen in front of nearly 80,000 people and a TV audience of millions.

Steve’s son, Lee, told the Melton Times: “It was really nice for my two youngest.

"They are not going to have life-time memories of my dad now so to see Wembley for the first time and to see grandad walk out on the pitch and see him on the big screen it’s a memory they will have forever.

"It is certainly something for them to tell their school friends all about.”

Steve and wife Carol got to the stadium early to meet the other mascots and their families. They got to chat to some of the players in the tunnel, including skipper Harry Kane and Newcastle star Dan Burn.

"It was nice to see dad talking to John Stones as he walked out for the match - the players seemed quite engaged rather than it being just a PR exercise,” said Lee.

“He couldn’t remember who John Stones is because of his condition.

“But being around sport still ticks a lot of boxes for him mentally.

"Over the years he’s seen a lot of games at the old Wembley and that does produce conversations.

"They are different conversations now though – you have to get him to tell you about it to see what he remembers.”

The England and Wales players wore shirts without their names on for the second half to illustrate how people with dementia lose their memory of past events.

The names of all the mascots were included in the programme alongside the teams to provide a special memento for families.

And the Freer family were inundated with texts and social media comments from friends as they watched on television.

Steve said: “My phone and my brother’s and mum’s were off the hook last night in terms of people commenting and sending messages.

“There were some really nice, positive comments and it was great to sit down with my dad and read them to him afterwards.”

Steve, who was diagnosed when he was only 57, has played a part in raising awareness of the condition with Alzheimer’s Society in previous campaigns associated with football.

A popular man in Melton sporting circles across many years, he managed junior football teams at Waltham and at Asfordby Amateurs and was a stalwart of several local cricket clubs.

Lee added: “I was bursting with pride to see him out there at Wembley.

"No-one who has met him has a bad word to say about dad.

“He found it a bit overwhelming at Wembley but also extremely satisfying.”