Everton have moved to ease the disappointment of a 15-year-old fan from Australia who was left frustrated after his 10,000-mile journey to watch the Merseyside derby was ruined by Storm Darragh.
Everton’s Premier League clash with rivals Liverpool on Saturday was postponed on safety grounds due to high winds following an amber weather warning and police advice against all non-essential travel.
That denied teenager Mackenzie Kinsella, of Sydney, the chance to see the final derby at Goodison Park after saving up £1,500 to travel to the UK for the occasion.
News of the youngster’s trip had been covered in local media last week and, after the postponement, the club offered him the opportunity to meet the squad at their Finch Farm training ground as consolation.
Speaking in a video released by the BBC, Everton club captain Seamus Coleman said: “Hi Mackenzie, it’s Seamus Coleman here. I just wanted to send you a video message to say I know that you will be so disappointed.
“I know how hard you saved up to travel from Australia for the Merseyside derby.
“I know you were looking forward to the experience, being at the last Merseyside derby at Goodison.
“We were all looking forward to the game but we’d love to see you down here at the training ground on Monday if that’s OK with you?
“Hopefully you can see a few of the lads and hopefully it’ll make up for some of the disappointment and we can have a chat then.”
Mackenzie, whose mother hails from Liverpool and is staying with a relative, did at least get to see his team play once as he attended last Wednesday’s 4-0 defeat of Wolves.
The derby had been due to kick off at 12.30pm on Saturday but news of the postponement was announced at 8.30am. The game will be rearranged in due course.
Foxtel the Company that pioneered streaming in Australia has been sold to UK Streaming Company DAZN in a $3.4M deal that is a record for an Australian streaming
Foxtel has been sold in a massive $US2.2 billion ($3.5b) deal that will bring UK sports entertainment juggernaut DAZN to Australia’s shores — and catapult l
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou lifted the famous line from the movie Gladiator following the wild ride of victory over Manchester United when he asked: "Are
Charlie Woods carded a hole-in-one at the PNC Championship - but it wasn't enough as Team Woods narrowly missed out to Bernhard La