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Leeds United fan is world record holder - for rejection letters from football clubs
It's a record of rejection that'd make most of the beautiful game's top bosses sick as a parrot.
But devoted Leeds United fan Andy Ballantyne is over the moon about being the world's foremost football management nearly man.
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The White's season ticket holder, 32, holds the official Guinness world record for the most rejection letters received from football clubs after applying to be their manager.
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So far he's scored knockbacks from clubs including his beloved Leeds, which saw him get a signed reply from former chairman Peter Ridsdale, as well as Scottish giants Celtic, Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City.
He's also been given the brush off from bosses at the FA after going for the job of coaching the England team twice.
And just days ago former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson wrote to Andy to thank him for his interest in the job at Notts County where the Swede is currently Director of Football.
Andy's bizarre quest began back in 1998 when he applied for the job at
Spurs.
He said: "I just went for the job for a bit of a laugh. George Graham beat me to it but I got a reply. After that I decided to just keep doing it and see how many I could get. Once I got the record I just decided to keep going so I could keep hold of it.
"The only clubs that haven't replied to me are Newcastle, Chelsea and Huddersfield."
Andy's amazing epistolary endeavour eventually saw him smash the previous record of 27 and amass a staggering 43 letters.
A framed certificate from world record compilers Guinness now takes pride of place in Andy's Rodley home.
And he has no plans to stop applying just yet.
He said: "I'd love to keep going and see if I could eventually get a letter from each of the 92 Football League clubs."
But would he ever go for the job of replacing the man all true Leeds United fans love to hate more than anyone else?
"When Alex Ferguson eventually steps down, I might apply for the Man Utd job- but only to sabotage the club!"
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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