Football: Tottenham fan's epic journey to watch team foiled by final-hour cancellation

A young fan plays with snow inside Turf Moor stadium. Photo / Getty

Heavy snowfall caused the the late cancellation of an English Premier League match on Monday, causing heartbreak for one fan who travelled almost 8000km for the game.

Burnley were due to host Tottenham at Turf Moor before the snow began to fall and conditions were deemed unfavourable for football by both club's managers within an hour of the scheduled kickoff time.

Many Spurs fans had made the five-hour trip from London for the match while one had flown from Dallas, Texas, to London and then caught a train to Burnley; only to discover his efforts were in vain.

"Dallas to London to Burnley (almost there) 31 hours - no sleep - fueled by coffee, cheese crackers and more coffee. Frigid temps and snow predicted for match day. The things we do when you love your club," SaxyKeN17 wrote on Twitter.

Dallas to London to Burnley (almost there) 31 hours - no sleep - fueled by coffee, cheese crackers and more coffee. Frigid temps and snow predicted for match day. The things we do when you love your club @SpursOfficial #coys #thfc #snowmatch pic.twitter.com/4784qLL4hy

— 🎙SniffingPostecoglu (@SaxyKeN17) November 27, 2021

The cancellation meant there was no chance for Antonio Conte's side to immediately bounce back from their embarrassing 2-1 defeat in the Europa Conference League by NS Mura in Slovenia last Friday.

Spurs now face a headache over when to replay the match as they have a game in every midweek heading into the hectic Christmas schedule. Their next gap in the fixture list is during January. But Conte insisted it was the right decision to call the match off as players were at risk of injury.

"I think in these conditions it's not football," Conte said. "I want to play football, I want to have fun, to play and to give emotion.

"I think in this situation, it's impossible and there is a serious risk for the players to take an injury."

❄️ We can confirm that today’s match against Burnley has been postponed due to adverse weather conditions. pic.twitter.com/8azBGHf3Pl

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 28, 2021

Sean Dyche, the Burnley manager, agreed.

"I can't see how it could go ahead the way the pitch is," he said.

"It's a joint decision with everyone. We were ready, and I made it clear if it could be played we wanted it on – as did their manager."

- with The Daily Telegraph UK