Everton fan who travelled 7,000 miles to see Everton gets to meet Martinez and the players after the game was cancelled late.
Malaysian Everton fan, Ric Wee came to Goodison Park last night to see his beloved Blues for the first time in 30 years after flying almost 7,000 miles only to be disheartened when the game was called off with less than an hour to go until kick off.
But Ric’s evening of disappointment after dangerous high winds battered Merseyside caused the postponement of last night’s game against Crystal Palace was transformed when the club arranged for him to meet manager Roberto Martinez and his players.
The 40-year-old who made the long trip with his daughter is returning to his Southeast Asian home today without fulfilling his lifelong ambition of watching the Blues play.
Businessman Wee’s predicament was revealed after he tweeted a photograph of himself inside Goodison with the caption ´´Finally, 30 years since supporting Everton, will b watching EFC “live” for 1st time´´
The game was called off just an hour later and Mr Wee was back on Twitter to post this: “Sadly Everton v Palace match called off due to bad weather. Dream to watch EFC play will continue to be on hold.”
With he himself expecting to have to wait a bit longer to see his heroes in action, behind the scenes staff at Everton had other ideas.
Thanks to many fans tweeting the club and Ric himself, Everton learnt of Mr Wee’s trip and disappointment. After he posted picture of his ticket on his twitter account, staff located him and his friend in the ground before introducing him to the players including Leighton Baines as well as manager Roberto Martinez in the dressing room.
Mr Wee was clearly delighted with his surprise and it was clear from his Twitter feed last night. Hundreds of Everton fans tweeted him with messages of both sympathy and support. After returning to his hotel in the city centre he later tweeted “Today @Everton just prove again that it’s the People’s Club taking extra effort to connect with fans. Salute the people running the club.
Everton also brought him back to the ground this morning before his flight where he received a full guided tour of Goodison Park with club legend Graeme Sharp. He also met the media at Goodison speaking to a variety of TV and radio journalists after becoming a media sensation overnight.
Everton´s director of communications Alan Myers said: “Ric was obviously disappointed not to see his team play after waiting for so long and everyone at the club was touched by his story after coming all this way.
“We wanted to try and ensure his trip was memorable for some positive reasons too and he seemed thrilled to meet Roberto and share a laugh and a joke with Leighton.
“As usual the Everton family were right behind him on Twitter and we hope he can return to see the team play soon.”
A video of his day will be on EvertonTV later. Hopefully Ric Wee will be back at Goodison Park and be able to see his beloved Blues in action “live” soon!