ONE YEAR, 135 MATCHES AND ALL ON CRUTCHES
Cerebral palsy? Pffft! Alexey Glazunov hauls himself to 17 Estonian fixtures per month. Now that’s dedication
If you think watching your team home and away all season is pretty impressive, that’s nothing on Alexey Glazunov’s commitment.
Despite cerebral palsy forcing him to travel everywhere on crutches, the football fanatic is ready for another season of ground-hopping in Estonia after taking in no fewer than 135 matches during 2015. That’s 17 per month across the whole season. Yikes.
In a country where the temperature sometimes drops below zero, this represents serious dedication – particularly as he often travels by train, then makes the arduous walk to the stadium when unable to get a lift.
Glazunov isn’t exactly picking out the glamour ties, either. Yes, the 35-year-old follows the Estonian national team, but he’s just as likely to pitch up at a sixth-tier fixture. There was a 200km journey from his Tallinn home to a cup match involving an amateur side, which ended with a penalty shootout in almost complete darkness, and he travels even further over land and sea to watch FC Kuressaare play on the island of Saaremaa.
“Trips Trips to Saaremaa are great adventures for me,” a smiling Glazunov tells FFT. “Saaremaa is lovely.”
Surprisingly, he finds disabled facilities at their most difficult in Estonia’s smart 10,000-seat national stadium, built in 2001.
“The staircases are not that ideal for people with mobility problems,” he says, explaining that he once had a fall inside the arena. “They don’t have any banisters and the steps are not of the same height. They become dangerous hurdles.”
He’s now a minor celebrity, and two of Estonia’sEstonia top-flight clubs offer him free entry.entry There is one team,team however, who might not be too happy to see him. Last year Glazunov was present when Virtsu Jalgpalliklubi were thrashed 36-0 by Infonet Tallinn in the Estonian Cup.
Hardly a lucky charm, then. Virtsu may be hoping he pays other teams a visit in 2016.