North-East News
Football supporter doesn't let blindness get in way of love for two clubs - 120 miles apart
8:00am Thursday 23rd February 2012
COMMITTED football fan Carl McGee does not let his blindness, or the fact that his two favourite teams play 120 miles apart, get in the way of showing his support.
The 24-year-old was at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light for their 2-0 FA Cup fifth round victory over Arsenal on Saturday evening, before travelling up to Edinburgh on Sunday for Hibernian versus Celtic.
His team, Hibs, suffered a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the Scottish Premier League leaders, but he headed north of the border again last night hoping for a better result in their clash with Motherwell.
Mr McGee, who has been blind since birth, relies on radio or in-ground commentary to follow the action on the pitch.
He said: “I decide atmosphere- wise what will be the better game to go to.
“For me, it’s the atmosphere.
“I take my radio and listen to the commentary.
“I can’t see what’s going on but I pick up on the atmosphere.”
Mr McGee, who lives at home with his parents near Stanley, County Durham, has been following Sunderland since 1997.
He goes to the Stadium of Light with his mother Diane and travels to away matches with the Chester-le-Street branch of the supporters’ association.
His passion for Hibs developed while he was at the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh, and he is now well-known at their Easter Road stadium.
He travels up alone by train, meets friends and walks with his white stick to the ground.
He gets on the supporters’ coach from Edinburgh to away games.
“I don’t have any problems getting through with the stick because the crowds normally move out of the way because they know that if they don’t they will end up with a whack,” he joked. “It’s nervewracking sometimes, but you’ve just got to get on with it.”
Mr McGee, who is a leading light in the Durham Visually Impaired Cricket Club, regularly features on football radio phone-ins, is writing for a new Sunderland fanzine, and is the subject of a short film on You Tube.
He said: “Following football is important to me, it’s better than just staying in the house all the time.’’