Premier League - The six million mile man

Eurosport - Wed, 30 Sep 12:46:00 2009

Football is a labour of love for many fans, but Arsenal supporter Nesan Sinnadurai has upped the bar of commitment with his show of devotion.

Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen scores the opening goal during the Premier League match v Wigan at the Emirates Stadium, FOOTBALL - 0

Every other weekend, Sinnadurai makes a round-trip from the US state of Georgia to the Emirates, clocking up 9000 air miles in the process.

For a Saturday trip to north London, the 63-year-old self-employed IT consultant will board a Friday morning flight from Atlanta for the 15-hour journey to Heathrow via Houston.

The Sri Lankan has been a fan of Arsenal since 1967 and claims to have amassed six million air miles.

He claims to spend £20,000 a year on watching Arsenal and says he lost his job and £400,000 home on account of taking so much time off work.

Sinnadurai is married with children and says of his wife in The Sun: "She thinks I'm crazy."

Eurosport

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  1. Tony, probably is false, whatever the case, and I say­ this AS an Arsenal fan ....

    the guy's a bit of a­ loser

    From Digger, on Thu 1 Oct 1:18PM

  2. Hahaha I wasn't comparing the speed of a jet with­ that of a 40 tonne truck. I was making the point that­ over 34 years were devoted to travelling many places at­ my work to accrue so many miles. I do not doubt for­ one moment that the man is a genuine supporter, as­ opposed to being a fan. I can fully understand his love­ for his club team. All power to him for that, but I­ still maintain it is false.

    From Tom, on Thu 1 Oct 1:07PM

  3. Im a Tottenham fan, and I say hats off to this guy! I­ travel about an hour to every home game an that can be­ bad enough!

    People give stick to 'fans' for­ watching it on the TV and not going, now people are­ giving stick to someone going to the game, what do you­ all want? Give the man a break!!

    It pains me to say­ but thats some dedication!

    From BG, on Thu 1 Oct 12:04PM

  4. HE IS NOT ALONE!!! I have 2 seats at club level and­ commute from whereever i am on business. generally from­ New York or Hong Kong. I have flown so much with Virgin­ Atlantic as a Gooner that I dont just have a goldcard­ but a personal concierge service they call PAMS. In New­ York all Arsenal games are shown live at the Clubhouse­ pub and even on a work day it is a sea of Red shirts so­ whether it means the afternoon off or take off Gooners­ are TRUE TRUE fans!!! Michael Coleman

    From s3curityblank3t, on Thu 1 Oct 12:03PM

  5. SAD B.....D (MAN)

    From HOWARD, on Thu 1 Oct 11:57AM

  6. SAD B.....D (MAN)

    From HOWARD, on Thu 1 Oct 11:57AM

  7. I'm dumb struck, I love Arsenal, but I dont think I­ would go that far, mind you I cant even afford the­ bloody train fare now LOL.

    From Suzi, on Thu 1 Oct 11:50AM

  8. If only they could invent some kind of box where this­ man could watch the game without leaving his­ home........ sad man

    From mcwilliams, on Thu 1 Oct 11:43AM

  9. if one is able with his own money and time why should­ we follow him... he's actually a great man!!

    From Christopher MUKOJI, on Thu 1 Oct 11:34AM

  10. Post 62 = I agree with your figures. Slightly under 392­ miles per day, if you look at it that way. If the­ Arsenal have played as many as 54 matches every year,­ for the entire 42 years, that is 2,268 matches in all. ­ At 9,000 miles per match, average,, that is well over­ 20 million miles in total, if you include home and all­ away games. Even just home matches, based on this­ assumption, is around 8 million miles. (Allowing many­ extra for European games). This is why I question it. ­ The longest trip I have ever made was from Cyprus to­ Newcastle, to see them play Wolves - they lost. I­ have every admiration for all true fans and supporters.­ On the other hand I have no truck for the "fair­ weather" fans - you know, the ones who only follow­ the teams that are winning, yet have probably never­ been away from their TV's and radio's?.

    From Tom, on Thu 1 Oct 11:33AM

  11. Tony H, post number 58

    has it ever occured to you that­ your HGV goes at slightly less speed than the average­ 650mph jet? clocking up miles takes a little less time­ you moron

    From Digger, on Thu 1 Oct 11:32AM

  12. Arsenal is best bang bang

    From Kemal, on Thu 1 Oct 11:32AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Sad little man!

    From TOBY S, on Thu 1 Oct 11:26AM

  14. WTF???? why r ppl wastin tym tokin bout co2 n all....i­ mean get a lyf, he's not flyin his own jet and the­ carriers wud fly with or without him.....u get devoted­ fans lyk dat 1 in a million lol......atleast he's­ not spendin his money buying guns n stuffs.....think b4­ u vommit a verdict ppl...!

    From Shajib, on Thu 1 Oct 11:23AM

  15. Loose your job and house for a stupid game..........Get­ a life.

    From Shihan, on Thu 1 Oct 11:07AM

  16. Meh! Obviously NOT a REAL fan, he doesn't go to­ home, away and reserve matches. Amateur :-P

    From Simon J, on Thu 1 Oct 11:02AM

  17. Blimey Think the ole boy should get a free game eh­ !!That is dedication to the end.Amazing what quality­ football will do to people, !!!

    From gunnerman&boy, on Thu 1 Oct 10:51AM

  18. He should buy a £20,000 tv screen and surround sound­ system and a couple of card board cut out of arsenal­ fans!

    From murdocksox, on Thu 1 Oct 10:48AM

  19. beauty in the world IS A STRANGE NAME FOR A MAN THAT­ LOVES FOOTBALL BUT I GUESS IF YOUR AS THICK AS YOU IT­ DOES NOT MATTER WHAT YOUR CALLED,THE ARSENAL FAN DOES­ NOT CHARTER HIS OWN PLANE IT WILL FLY WITHOUT HIM YOU­ MUPPET SO IT HAS NO AFFECT ON THE ENVIROMENT IF HE­ STEPS ON THE PLANE OR NOT....

    From Ian, on Thu 1 Oct 10:45AM

  20. Fair enuf, the dude is taking it wayyyy too far, Yeah­ he should go catch the odd game but come on!!!!

    All­ you idiots saying he's wasting CO2 n that @#$%­ STFU, the plane is gonna fly with or without him

    but i­ agree with that one dude, Arsenal should give him free­ admission for the complete devotion he's shown lol

    From R3B3L SN0WB0, on Thu 1 Oct 10:37AM
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