Please Help Appeal Advice

[Whereistheremote]

A friend's DS has been allocated a perfectly good school in Wales, but had set his heart on a different perfectly good school. The DS is very bright and needs to be kept challenged. The school he prefers has a MAT programme, the school he's been allocated to hasn't. Mum and Dad are not together, they applied from Mum's address. Mum lives on the boundary, Dad lives in the catchment for the preferred school. One big problem is Dad was "challenging" at school and went to the high school that their DS has been allocated to, a lot of teachers still remember him, he was THAT kid. He doesn't want his DS to be labelled by his past misdeeds.
Is any of this grounds for a successful appeal? What would be grounds for a successful appeal?
The DS is an only and I have no knowledge to help, so please anyone out their who knows please advise.

No, being the son of THAT kid is not grounds for appeal.

No appeal panel will take that into consideration. You would be much better talking about the fact that preferred school has MAT program and how much your son wants to do this.
Quite frankly the school staff will have changed significantly since dad was at school so suspect that the issue is a non-issue and those teachers that do remember will not be at all bothered

Depending on where their DS spends his time they could appeal on the basis of distance.
Being THAT kid is inconsequential, but if they changed their application address on the basis that he spends 50% of his time living with his father, they may be able to build a case around that?

Spending 50% of time at a parents house isn't a basis for an appeal. The child will be registered at one address.