Young Leeds United fan completes 26-mile walk to lay flag for Norman Hunter
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Sixteen-year-old Ollie Whitfield set off from his home in Bingley at 9am on Sunday morning to head to Elland Road on foot to pay tribute to Hunter who passed away aged 76 on Friday morning after battling coronavirus.
Ensuring that he still abided by social distancing measures, Whitfield finally arrived at LS11 on Sunday afternoon to lay his flag before the long trek back to arrive home with sore shins at around 7.30pm.
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Hide AdWhitfield told the YEP: "After hearing the terrible news on the legend Norman Hunter which really touched me I wanted to do something for him so I decided to put some words on to my flag and take it to Elland Road.
"Obviously as I’m not a key worker I didn’t want to use public transport and living 13 miles from the ground I thought I’d challenge myself using social distancing and walk on the canal there and back to the ground.
"I set off at 9am and returned home at 7.30pm and I was determined to finish what I had set myself.
"I had to take a break at Wortley Recreation Ground where I saw the ground and that gave me the courage to carry on.
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Hide Ad"I then walked on Lowfields Road so I could walk under the tunnel I have walked under many years with my dad since my very first season ticket in 2009/2010 age six."
Reflecting on his emotions upon finally arriving at his club's famous home, Whitfield said: "When I got to Elland Road all I can say is it felt amazing and seeing all the tributes to Norman Hunter and the flowers for Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight was fantastic.
"Some other flags hung such as the Barnsley one which was a nice touch.
"I was already exhausted but set off home with motivation and arrived back at 7:30pm - with aching shins."
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