The father of the little girl to whom Leicester City star James Maddison dedicated his goal yesterday has revealed he and his family knew of the star's "touching" plan.

Maddison took off his shirt to reveal a poignant message to five-year-old Sophie Taylor, who died in January, after he opened the scoring in the Foxes' victory over Burnley at Turf Moor.

The player's simple message, printed on his undershirt, read: "RIP Sophie. I love you."

Sophie, who lived with her family in Norwich, had a cancer called osteosarcoma. She had undergone chemotherapy, as well as surgery to remove part of a leg, and was in the process of getting her first prosthetic leg when she died.

Leicester City star JamesMaddison has spoken of his sadness over the death of a young cancer sufferer he had become close to.
The City No. 10 developed a friendship with litte Sophie Taylor last year while still a player for Norwich City.
Leicester City star JamesMaddison has spoken of his sadness over the death of a young cancer sufferer he had become close to. The City No. 10 developed a friendship with litte Sophie Taylor last year while still a player for Norwich City.

The 22-year-old forward visited Sophie regularly in the last two weeks of her life, and spoke at her funeral.

Her dad, Alex, told LeicestershireLive today that the fans' favourite, who completed his move from Norwich to Leicester City last summer, had confided in the family that he would dedicate his next goal to their little girl's memory.

Alex, 31, said: "This was something James had told us he wanted to do - to dedicate his next goal to Sophie.

"He told us, but nobody else knew about it. We were delighted and very touched by what he did."

Sophie first met Maddison when he was playing for her team, Norwich City, last April.

She had been chosen to be a mascot on a match day and was, by chance, paired up with Maddison, who was her favourite player.

BURNLEY, ENGLAND - MARCH 16: James Maddison of Leicester City celebrates after scoring to make it 0-1 during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Leicester City at Turf Moor on March 16th, 2019 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City via Getty Images)
Maddison revealed his message to Sophie after he scored against Burnley

Alex remembers she was too weak to walk on to the pitch, so Maddison stunned the family by picking her up and carrying her on prior to kick-off.

From that point, the player and Sophie, and her family, became firm friends.

Alex said: "She was really not able to walk and initially I was going to carry her out, but James just put his arms out and said, 'Don't worry, I'll carry her'.

"We messaged him through social media and he sent her a signed shirt for her birthday."

"As a Norwich fan I was gutted he left to go to Leicester City, but I was really pleased for him. He really deserved the move and is flourishing there."

Maddison remained close to Sophie and her family and continued to be a great support, even though he had moved away.

Alex said: "They would talk to each other on FaceTime.

"It was funny. She would be really excited about calling him, but then she would be all shy and quiet when she was actually talking to him.

Leicester City star JamesMaddison has spoken of his sadness over the death of a young cancer sufferer he had become close to.
The City No. 10 developed a friendship with litte Sophie Taylor last year while still a player for Norwich City.
Leicester City star JamesMaddison has spoken of his sadness over the death of a young cancer sufferer he had become close to. The City No. 10 developed a friendship with litte Sophie Taylor last year while still a player for Norwich City.

"He just genuinely loved talking to her and spending time with her. These things he has done for Sophie are not gestures, it's a genuine love he felt for Sophie.

"I'm her dad, so I'm going to be biased, but anyone who spent any time with Sophie ended up being in awe of her.

"She was an amazing, brave and resilient little girl.

"When James and her met it was clear he was in awe of her too. Sophie loved him and referred to him as her best friend.

"She treated him as a normal human being, not as a famous footballer.

"James is a very special footballer but he's also a very special human being. He didn't have to do any of the things he did for Sophie and our family, he just did them and has been a tremendous support.

"He knew how to tease her and she knew how to put him in his place.

"In the final two weeks of Sophie's life he made the effort to come down to Norwich to see her three or four times. He also spoke at her funeral.

"He has been absolutely brilliant and we regard him as part of our family and always will."

Alex said he and his wife, 30-year-old Kirsty, who have two other children, Evie, eight, and one-year-old Connor, are in the early stages of planning a campaign which would be a legacy to their daughter.

Video Loading

We want you to be able to get your news whenever and however you want it.

As well as  our website , we have  a Facebook page , a Twitter feed,  @leicslive , and for a daily snapshot of the top stories, you can sign up to receive our newsletters.

If you prefer to use an app, we've got apps for both Android and Apple devices which can be tailored to deliver the news and sport that you're interested in.

And if you download our app, you can sign up for push notifications, which means you'll get alerts about the biggest breaking news stories.

We’ve also got Facebook groups for traffic and travel, crime, things to do with the kids, shopping and homes for sale.