A prime example of how chancing your arm can pay off in a big way.
Portsmouth were all set to play Crawley Town on Saturday, but Old Man Winter’s lingering presence put a serious dampener on things.
A frozen pitch meant the League Two clash had to be postponed and suddenly the players’ schedules for the weekend freed up unexpectedly.
One player who wasn’t happy with having all his plans cancelled was defender Christian Burgess. The 25-year-old aired his frustration over the fixture being postponed on Twitter. He was so bored out of his tree that he offered his services as a footballer to anyone who was willing to have him.
Don't know what to do with myself.. Anyone need a player? Prefer the number 10 role… alternatively might join the Women's march in London!
— Christian Burgess (@Burgey44) January 21, 2017
He may have been half-joking, but that didn’t stop youth coach Will Chitty from trying to make the most of the opportunity.
In the most concise way possible, he invited Burgess to coach at a training session for the Skilful Soccer Youth under-12s side he manages. Including the time and location, he gave him no excuse not to show up. However, the winky face emoji suggests he wasn’t expecting much of a response.
u12s training at Bransbury Pk at 11 sharp. You can help me coach 😉
— Will Chitty (@w_chitty) January 21, 2017
Well if you don’t ask, you won’t receive.
Pushing send on that tweet turned out to be a great decision as Burgess shocked everyone by actually showing up to the training session.
He spent over an hour at the ground helping the kids with their training drills, posing for photographs and also doing an Q&A on the fly, according to the club’s official website. Burgess sounded absolutely thrilled with his decision to accept the cheeky request.
“It fitted in with the time, I was on my way back from training, knew the park and thought I’d say hello,” They seemed to enjoy it, it was a nice surprise for them and there were some talented kids there.”
“They were big Pompey fans, as are most people in the city. It’s not something I have done before. I enjoyed it so why not do it again in the future if I have time off the it’s round the corner?”
When your son's fav player turns up for training Thanks @Burgey44 & @w_chitty for making it happen @officialpompey pic.twitter.com/u0xx54wI92
— Brad Beaven (@BradJBeaven) January 21, 2017
The story began gathering a serious amount of momentum online to the point that Burgess began receiving a lot of pats on the back for giving up his free time for such a worthy cause.
While he was very appreciative of all the kind messages from fans, he really showed his class by pointing out this was a rare occurrence for him and that the people who should be receiving all the kudos are dedicated youth coaches such as Chitty.
Thanks for all the kind messages but it's @w_chitty and people like him who give up their time week in week out who deserve our respect 👏🏼⚽️
— Christian Burgess (@Burgey44) January 22, 2017
Pure class.
