A Leeds United fan who has had a huge tattoo tribute to Marcelo Bielsa inked on his leg has told why he wanted to make the sacrifice for his club.
Hayden Kershaw flew to Holland for the £730 portrait of the Leeds United head coach, complete with trademark glasses and club tracksuit, that took a painstaking ten hours.
The footy mad 27-year-old booked the ink job with renowned Dutch tattooist Auke six months in advance, but he said it was "worth the wait" after being impressed by the finished product.
Hayden, who has been watching his beloved team since he was five years old, said he wanted the pay homage to Bielsa because he has "injected pride and passion" back into the city since taking over in June 2018.
He said: "When I was a lot younger, we had some glory days before it all went wrong.
"But these last 18 months have been the best Leeds side I have ever seen and it's all down to Bielsa.
"What he's done and the way he's transformed the club is amazing.
"He's taken us from a laughing stock club, mid-table every year and transformed us into a team that is basically Premier League-in-waiting."
He added: "We should have gone up last year. Obviously the main ambition is promotion, but no matter the outcome, the positive impact Bielsa has made won’t ever be forgotten by Leeds fans.
"He’s installed this South American flair and brought passion and pride back to the city of Leeds for their football team."
Hayden booked the tattoo in June, but was told he faced a six month wait as Auke was fully booked.
He sent some photographs via email of Bielsa on the touchlines and made the booking for Sunday, November 16.
Well worth the wait, couldn’t be happier with how this turned out. Thanks Auke, incredible work! @inkdistrictAmsterdam #lufc #mot #bielsa @Newells_en @LUFC pic.twitter.com/fQkyCmiVrf
— Hayden (@haydenLUFC) November 17, 2019
And he could not be happier with the permanent portrait of the 64-year-old boss.
He said: "I'd seen his stuff online and he's tattooed one of my mates, he's fantastic.
"When I contacted him he said he loves doing old people's portraits and obviously Bielsa fits that description.
"I booked it in the summer time and had been waiting for five or six months for it.
"He's got a big waiting list, but it was the worth wait.
"It cost €850 but to me it's priceless.
"I'm delighted with it. It looks like someone has transferred the photograph on to my leg."
His girlfriend Claire Wilkinson flew out to Amsterdam with him and the pair made a weekend of it.
However, the last day was taken up by the inking, which saw Hayden sat in the tattooist's chair from 10am to 7pm - just in time to make their flight home.
He added: "My girlfriend didn't mind. We had a nice weekend away and she knew I was getting the tattoo done.
"She sat there with me on the Sunday supporting me while I got the tattoo done.
"She's used to me getting up at 5am to go to away games and sometimes not getting back until gone midnight.
"Football is everything to me. I went self-employed at work so I could get to midweek away games.
"I lived in Australia for a year but came back home because I missed going to the football so much.
"I've got lots of other tattoos, I'm covered in them, but this is my first Leeds United tattoo and it was the longest sitting I've had.
"I'm eventually going to get a full leg tattoo dedicated to Leeds United, with the badge and other club legends."
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