Burnley fan overwhelmed with responses to advert asking for lifts to Turf Moor
A pensioner with Parkinson's disease has been overwhelmed with messages after he made a newspaper advert asking for a lift to Burnley FC games.
Chris Coxhead, 71, posted in the classifieds section of the Southport and Formby Champion, asking for someone to help him make the 76-mile round-trip from Merseyside to Turf Moor.
Chris paid £40 for the advert which has gained widespread attention on social media and has been shared tens of thousands of times.
The Clarets have even got in touch with Chris to offer support, as well as giving Chris a VIP ticket where he will sit in the director's box at Turf Moor and meet manager Sean Dyche.
Chris told ITV News: "They're sending a car for me to go the match. We are having a three course meal with the chairman and watch the match in a box. I believe there are going to be signed shirts and other things.
"I'm predicting 3-1 to Burnley against Tottenham. I think Spurs will be more worried about us than we are worried about them.
"I think we have been very unlucky this season. There has been injuries and Covid.
"I think we are one of the best sides in the league at the moment. Even Klopp admitted we could have beaten Liverpool."
Chris was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2018 and no longer feels comfortable driving to Burnley's ground from Southport.
He has had an offer from someone in Longton, near Preston, 12 miles away from him, who also goes to Turf Moor - meaning he can now renew his season ticket.
Mr Coxhead said: "One nice gentleman, David Walker, has offered for me to go in his box for the Leicester game and he'll send someone to pick me up and bring me home.
"I have found someone through all this who is willing to take me. He lives in Longton so it's not too far away.
"We're both of a similar age, we both have lads who we used to go with, we're both happy to sit and chat with each other for two or three hours to and from matches.
"I'm quite embarrassed, to be honest. I didn't expect any of this. I just wanted to find someone who was going my way to Turf Moor who could give me a lift.
"It was more for next season before I bought my season ticket. When I got the offer I bought my season ticket overnight."
The advert was shared far and wide after it was spotted by another football fan, Carl Disley, on 18 February.
Tweeting a picture, Mr Disley said: "Football fans assemble. Share this far and wide. Let's keep this fella going the match as long as possible."
The ad, originally posted on 16 February, read: "OAP season ticket holder in Argyle Road, Southport looking for [a] lift from Southport to and from the Clarets' home games.
"Prepared to change seats in the ground to facilitate this. I have early-stage Parkinson's."
Burnley FC chairman Alan Pace said: “We have been in touch with Chris, the Clarets fan who placed the advert in the newspaper, to invite him and a guest to join us in the chairman’s lounge at Wednesday night’s Tottenham game.
“In speaking to Chris, we found out that a fellow supporter who lives nearby has offered to bring him to all future home games, which is fantastic to hear.
“This scenario is a real testament to the power of the fans. To see Chris’s advert shared far and wide by supporters, which ultimately resulted in him securing transport to Turf Moor, is wonderful.
"This has been a great example of how football can really bring people together.”