Cherries: Mitchell stranded by ash cloud and will miss potential promotion party

20 April 2010 07:00
MIFFED Cherries chairman Eddie Mitchell will be forced to miss the club's potential promotion clincher at Burton Albion due to the volcanic ash flight ban.[LNB] Mitchell and family members are among 150,000 Britons who have been stranded abroad since the Icelandic volcano erupted on Thursday.[LNB] Cherries' majority shareholder, his wife Brenda, their daughter Jessica and chief executive Neill Blake's daughter Jaimie-Leigh left for a two-week holiday in Dubai at the start of the Easter break.[LNB] And although they were due back in England at the end of last week, their return journey was cancelled as a result of the ban on flights in UK airspace.[LNB] While planes were due to remain grounded across the country at least until the early hours of today, the Mitchell party will be stuck overseas for another few days.[LNB] Speaking to the Daily Echo from his hotel last night, Mitchell said: I am going to miss the Burton match and it is really cheesing me off.[LNB] We were expecting to be back in time for the Darlington game last Saturday but, unfortunately, we couldn't fly due to the situation.[LNB] Even if they were to re-open the airspace when they hope to, the earliest flight we were able to book was for next Saturday afternoon so I wouldn't be able to get to Burton in time.[LNB] It is a great disappointment and is going to be hard keeping in touch with events by telephone.[LNB] Despite missing out on Cherries' eagerly-awaited trip to Staffordshire, Mitchell did concede he could have been stuck in worse places.[LNB] He added: I am overlooking the Gulf, the sun is out and it's 35 degrees here. It's certainly not too much of a hardship![LNB] We are in a lovely place. But I am missing my work, the club's work and I would rather be back.[LNB] Mitchell was kept informed of events during Cherries' 2-0 win over Darlington by Blake, who is also his son-in-law.[LNB] It was a fantastic result, said Mitchell. I was in a Chinese restaurant when Neill phoned me to tell me we had gone one and then two-nil up. It was great. I was jumping up and down in the restaurant and the children were looking at me as if I had gone mad![LNB]

Source: Bournemouth_Echo