The man, a member of the Red Devils display team, was blown onto the roof of the Cricket Field stand by a gust of wind before the Clarets' clash with Ipswich Town on Saturday, delaying the start of the game by 45 minutes.

Burnley firefighters were called in to rescue the man, who was stranded on the fragile asbestos roof of the stand, and a special 100ft aerial ladder was brought over from Accrington to get him down.

The man was part of the Red Devils team providing the pre-match entertainment at Turf Moor, and along with six other parachutists, was aiming to land on the pitch to present the first match ball of the new football season.

Firefighters said he suffered cuts and bruises to his knees, shins and feet as he landed heavily on the roof.

They rushed to the scene at 2-55 p.m., just five minutes before the match was due to kick off. He was treated by paramedics at the scene but did not attend hospital.

The rescue attempt was further delayed as the firefighters had to wait for half a dozen car owners to move their vehicles from outside the Cricket Field stand to make room for the aerial ladder.

After a delay of 45 minutes, the game started and the Red Devil was rescued from the roof at 4-30 p.m. Burnley eventually lost 0-3 to Ipswich.

Burnley crew manager Roy Edwards said: "The rescue took so long because we were trying to find people at the match who had parked on the cricket field area so we had enough space to get up with the aerial ladder platform, and that obviously took quite a while.

"He had some scrapes on his legs and was a bit shaken but I think it was mostly his pride that was hurt."

Click here to view our slideshow of the accident

Click here to view YouTube footage of the accident