“All the footballers were lovely to him”... Missing cat’s six month stay at Crawley Town stadium

Three-year-old moggie, Jerry, went missing from his home in Pease Pottage in October last year, much to the distress of the Johnson family.

But it turns out the runaway puss just wanted to experience the life of a footballer and had travelled nearly one-and-a-half miles to hang out with the stars of Crawley Town Football club.

His owner Natasha Johnson said Jerry had been pampered by the players, who kept him well fed and even renamed after fan favourite Glenn Morris - whose nickname is the cat.

She said: “All the footballers were lovely to him and even called him after one of their players. They fed him and let him sleep in their boiler room. In fact he was so well fed there he was fatter when we got him back than when he left home in October.”

Jerry went missing from his home in The Squires on the October 27 last year. Natasha and her family searched high and low for their favourite feline, even taking to social media in a bid to track him down.

Natasha explained the family had started to give up hope when she was messaged by a friend at the beginning of April. They said a photo had been shared on Facebook of a cat which looked just like Jerry hanging out by the Red Bar at the Broadfield Stadium.

Natasha grabbed two of her daughters, Isla and Elin, and rushed down to the ground to find Jerry sitting happily in his new temporary accommodation.

She said: “The thing we are most impressed with is the fact that Crawley FC looked after him so well. We had such cold weather after he left. We (are) so lucky he is alive and well.”

Natasha said she was not entirely sure how Jerry had made it to the ground but suspected he had hopped into someone’s car and taken a ride.

Jerry has now completed his six-month loan spell at the club - even if he didn’t have his owners consent - and is now home to the joy of Natasha and her family.

Eight-year-old Isla said she was ‘very shocked Jerry was now home but was so happy and always knew he was alive somewhere’. Her sister Elin, 6, added she was also shocked but was ‘so so happy to have him back’.

As well as praising Crawley Town Natasha also wanted to thank those who had helped look for Jerry, particularly on social media.