Former NFL star JJ Watt has put his old Chelsea allegiances to one side because he believes he can make a big difference at Championship-winning Burnley. The 34-year-old, who retired from playing last year, has been in Lancashire this week to enjoy Burnley’s final game of the season and take part in Tuesday’s trophy parade after he and his wife Kealia, a former United States international, became investors in the club. Watt has previously said he was a Chelsea fan but that is in the past for the three-time NFL defensive player of the year. “I’m a massive football fan and I’ve been looking for the right opportunity for a long time,” Watt told the PA news agency. “Burnley is a club that has been around since 1882, it’s got incredible support in a great town and I’m very much looking forward to helping create the vision that Alan (Pace, chairman) and Vincent (Kompany, manager) have for the club. “With a club like Chelsea if I got involved, I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t have any impact in what is a $6billion club. But if you come to a club like Burnley you have the chance to make a difference, the chance to make an impact. “I don’t hide the fact I used to be a Chelsea supporter but I’m all Burnley now.” While the Premier League is now awash with investment from around the world, most of that is channelled into the big six clubs or those in London. Turf Moor is a long way from the more glamorous image of the top flight, but Watt, who grew up in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, said that appealed to him. “I’m from a small town in Wisconsin and I grew up watching the Green Bay Packers,” said Watt, who spent 10 seasons with the Houston Texans and two with the Arizona Cardinals. “Every bit of evidence says Green Bay is not a big town and there’s no reason for them to be great but I think that something special can happen in a small town, especially when you have a manager like Vincent Kompany and a chairman like Alan Pace, and supporters like we have here.” Watt admitted he felt a bit of out of place at Tuesday’s parade – “I don’t feel like I deserve to be here because I just joined” – but he has quickly got involved in several aspects of the club, even sitting in on a meeting looking ahead to the summer transfer window. Having taken some inspiration from the impact Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have had at Wrexham, just promoted to League Two, Watt said he wanted to take Burnley global. There will also be a particular focus on improving the women’s team at Burnley, who play in the National League North, the third tier of the pyramid. “I’m going to be helping to increase the global brand,” Watt said. “We want to help create interest and excitement around Burnley Football Club and tell the story of the town and get people to understand how great of a place it is. “(The women’s team) is a big part of what we want to do. Women’s football is on the rise globally and we want to make sure Burnley is a part of that rise.”

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Richarlison ended a difficult week by coming off the bench to score and inspire Tottenham to a dramatic 2-1 win over Sheffield United. Spurs were heading for their first Premier League defeat under Ange Postecoglou after Gustavo Hamer put the newly-promoted side 1-0 up in the 73rd minute in north London. Postecoglou turned to Richarlison and the £60million forward rewarded the faith of his head coach with a headed equaliser in the eighth minute of added time for only his second league goal since joining from Everton last summer. There was still time for a grandstand finish and it arrived in the 10th minute of stoppage time when Richarlison set up Dejan Kulusevski to rifle home to make it four league wins in a row for Tottenham ahead of next weekend’s derby away to Arsenal. It was a cruel ending for Sheffield United, who had Oli McBurnie sent off for a second yellow card before full-time and remain winless after five matches. Tottenham were unchanged from their 5-2 victory at Burnley before the international break, which meant Richarlison was again restricted to a place on the bench after he revealed in midweek his desire to seek “psychological help” following a turbulent time on and off the pitch. An excellent start to life under Postecoglou earned him manager of the month for August, but Spurs were provided an early warning by Sheffield United when McBurnie turned neatly in the area, only for his curled effort to hit strike partner Cameron Archer. Eventually the hosts settled into their stride and Wes Foderingham saved well from Yves Bissouma’s left-footed effort in the 19th minute after a slick move. Spurs captain Son Heung-min was next to test Foderingham with a curled strike before Guglielmo Vicario got down well to James McAtee’s low shot, which would have been ruled out anyway. Postecoglou’s team continued to push for the opener and James Maddison called Foderingham into action before the Sheffield United goalkeeper required lengthy treatment for a muscle injury. Foderingham was fine to carry on and penalty appeals had been waved away for the hosts by this point after Maddison went down under contact from Chris Basham. The Blades goalkeeper was booked on the stroke of half-time for handling outside his area before boos greeted the end of the first 45 after only three minutes were added on despite several stoppages. Foderingham was at the heart of the action at the beginning of the second period when he was caught by Micky van de Ven and needed a concussion check, but the ex-Rangers goalkeeper stayed on to lap up his role as pantomime villain. Cristian Romero headed wide after fine work by Bissouma soon after, but frustration was starting to get the better of the hosts. Play was twice halted by referee Peter Bankes after a second ball was thrown onto the pitch before Maddison and Manor Solomon were shown yellow cards in quick succession. Solomon did fire over soon after and the Blades then provided Tottenham with a sucker-punch in the 73rd minute. Jack Robinson’s long throw was not dealt with by Pape Sarr or Romero and it dropped for Sheffield United summer signing Hamer, who drilled in at the back post via the woodwork to delight the travelling faithful behind the goal. Postecoglou reacted with a triple substitution as deadline day addition Brennan Johnson, Richarlison and Ivan Perisic were brought on, which lifted the hosts. Perisic and Johnson both put the ball in the net not long after their introduction but the offside flag denied them and it was left to Richarlison to steal the show. The Brazil number nine was pictured in tears last weekend following another blank in a 5-1 win over Bolivia for his nation but headed home Perisic’s corner deep into added time. Better was to follow for Tottenham when a superb move involving Perisic and Richarlison saw the latter tee up Kulusevski, who fired through Robinson’s legs to spark wild celebrations as the feelgood factor at Spurs continues. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Aston Villa leave it late to beat Crystal Palace as Roy Hodgson misses match Late Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland goals keep Manchester City top Manchester United’s challenging fortnight ends with home defeat to Brighton

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