Hero.
To many football fans, the chance to walk on the pitch of their beloved club is a dream come true but Norwich City supporter David Thornhill went one better during the Canaries’ recent 1-1 draw with Preston.
Near the end of the match, the Norwich City superfan had to be plucked from the crowd to serve as the fourth official.
The bizarre backstory is this. The assistant referee, Mark Jones, went off injured – he pulled his hamstring – and was replaced by the fourth official, Andy Davies.
After noticing that there was no other official to replace the fourth official, the referee seriously considered stopping the match and he even took the players off the pitch.
In this moment of doubt, David Thornhill stepped up, got kitted out and dutifully carried out his duties which included the proudest display of injury time that we’ve seen in a long time.
For anyone in doubt, please know that Mr Thornhill is a qualified referee and after helping his beloved club, Norwich City expressed their gratitude via Twitter.
Take a look at the whole timeline of events below.
🎥 Thanks for stepping in, @spud1902! 👍 #ncfc pic.twitter.com/vWe3ir0RjX
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) November 25, 2017
Chaos at Norwich…
A 'local bloke' from the crowd has come to the rescue. #bbcfootball pic.twitter.com/nzUsoPXhzt
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) November 25, 2017
Here’s Norwich City’s live account of the events.
David, take a bow.
Stoppage in play as the linesman on the far side trudges off with injury… #ncfc
NCFC 1-1 PNE (84)
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) November 25, 2017
All the players are called over and the referee appears to be considering taking the teams off the pitch as there's now no fourth official… #ncfc
We're confused.
NCFC 1-1 PNE (86)
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) November 25, 2017
Right. So we've got a local qualified referee about to get changed to operate as the fourth official for the closing stages it seems! #ncfc
Always bring your boots, eh?
NCFC 1-1 PNE (88)
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) November 25, 2017
