Swans fans look to the heavens for extra help
SWANSEA City club chaplain Kev Johns reckons there is nothing to fear from the spiritual support Bradford have received for the cup final — but he said he will be having a word with the man upstairs just in case!
The Dalai Lama — the Tibetan spiritual leader — has given the Yorkshire club his blessing for the Capital One Cup clash against the Swans.
He also went on the say that he hopes the game can demonstrating the power of sport "to bring happiness to others on and off the pitch".
But Swans fan, DJ and actor Kev said the Welsh side had nothing to worry about.
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He joked: "We have seen plenty of little North Bank prayers over the years.
"I'll have a quiet word with the Lord tonight and remind him of his Welsh connections — Swansea is the home of the great 19th century religious revival that touched the world.
"I'll ask the Lord to keep an eye on Swansea for the game.
"I am sure we will all right on the day — I am quietly confident.
"Swansea against Bradford may not be the glamour final some people wanted but it is great for football."
The Dalai Lama's connection with the Yorkshire club goes back to last summer when fans' group Friends of Bradford City presented the spiritual leader with a personalised claret and amber City shirt and made him their honorary president.
Now he has written to the club ahead of the February 24 trip to Wembley.
The message read: "On behalf of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, may I offer you, and indeed the whole team of players for Bradford City, huge congratulations on your incredible success.
"If His Holiness' blessing has helped in any way towards your wonderful efforts, I hope that blessing will continue to bring you good fortune.
"He would hope that this tremendous achievement can be turned into an opportunity to help others, demonstrating the power of sport to bring happiness to others on and off the pitch."
The blessing from the Dalai Lama prompted a lot of interest on social media sites, including Twitter.
Popular Welsh sports tweeter Welsh Dai Lama — who claims to be scrum-half for Tibet RFC (The Exiles) — responded by giving his blessing to Swansea City.
He tweeted: "I see my twin @DalaiLama has been getting me into trouble. Don't panic, @SwansOfficial — I'm definitely on your side!"
Other people took to Twitter joking that the Pope was a big Swans fan, and mocked-up photos of His Holiness wearing a Swans shirt were last night being tweeted and retweeted.
Comments
by Jack5y
Tuesday, February 05 2013, 11:01AM
“With another pre match speech off Kev, we will have the confidence and passion to beat Bradford.
The 34000 Jacks will lift the roof off Wembley yet again.”