Video: 20-stone Welshman with incredible football skills becomes latest YouTube sensation
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A 20-stone Welshman with incredible football skills has become the latest YouTube sensation, proving that size doesn’t matter.
Fifty-year-old Andrew Cassidy was secretly filmed executing juggles and flicks more athletic men could only dream of possessing.
The video has racked up over one million views, which has led to minor celebrity status and an invitation to take part in the opening ceremony of the World Freestyle Football Championships in Dubai next month.
After losing his job as a fisherman in 2002, he has practiced in a Milford Haven car park daily for two hours.
Already a familiar face in the in South Welsh town, grainy phone footage originally posted on the Spotted: Milford Haven Facebook group has catapulted him to fame as people the world over admired his footballing abilities.
Originally it was thought to be a viral marketing stunt or a computer-generated hoax. However, he is completely genuine and has given numerous interviews about his secret talent.
He said: "I'm quite agile for a big guy and I've got good hand-eye co-ordination, balance and timing. I'm pretty good even though I've got a lot of blubber on me: it's just a matter of practice and I've got plenty of time on my hands for that.""
'It's crazy to think that so many people have seen my skills - this is just what I do. Sometimes kids will have a kick around with me but they always leave after I've shown them up,” he added.
Organisers of the Freestyle championship have not just invited Cassidy and expected him to pay his way – instead, they are flying him first class, putting him up in a luxury 5-star hotel and paying him £200 a day.
A spokesman for the tournament said: 'He's a sensation - you can't take your eyes off him.'
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