By chance boarding a ship full of beer-swilling soccer followers can be some individuals’s thought of hell.
However Evan Johnston, a 21-year-old scholar from Arizona, stated he “had a blast” after inadvertently becoming a member of a ship journey chartered by 150 Southend United supporters earlier than their Nationwide League recreation at Sutton United on Saturday.
Based on the Southend Echo, Johnston boarded at Tower Millennium Pier in London believing he was getting on a vacationer boat, however he was quickly taken below the collective wing of a bunch of Southend followers.
“I had initially deliberate to board the river cruise boat for the Hop-On-Hop-Off tour, which I assume was situated on the identical dock,” Johnson instructed the Echo. “The cruise would final an hour or so after which I deliberate to spend the remainder of the day touring central London.
“I had some suspicions after I was in line to board behind the entire Southend followers, as a result of they appeared to know one another and have been making chants I didn’t perceive. However I made a decision to board anyhow as a result of I figured in the event that they checked tickets they might simply flip me round … However they didn’t examine tickets, so I slipped on the boat undetected.”
Andy Ward, one of many Southend supporters on board, instructed the Echo: “Somebody on the boat instructed me a younger lad was on the mistaken boat and I simply needed to ensure he was OK. When I discovered him he was consuming and dancing with different Southend followers and despite the fact that you might see he was nervous everybody was simply attempting to make him really feel welcome … He stated somebody gave him a match ticket however was not sure whether or not to go. I stated to him include us.”
The boat docked at Blackfriars Pier and the followers, their quantity swelled by one, caught a prepare to Sutton, the place Johnston had an genuine style of a soccer supporter’s life. Ben Goodliffe put Southend forward on 24 minutes at VBS Neighborhood Stadium just for Ashley Nadesan to strike within the fourth minute of stoppage time to rescue some extent for the hosts.
“I had a blast on the boat and on the Southend recreation,” stated Johnston, who hails from Tempe, close to Phoenix, and is in London for six weeks as a part of his research. “I had a lot enjoyable I plan to go to a different Southend recreation subsequent weekend and hopefully they will pull out the win. I’m a Southend fan until I die now. I by no means adopted a lot soccer so that is the primary workforce I really cared about and I’m rooting for them now.”
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A Southend spokesperson instructed the Guardian: “We’re actually trying ahead to welcoming Evan to Roots Corridor this weekend for our recreation towards Solihull Moors on Saturday. We’ll be giving him a behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium and the possibility to fulfill a few of the gamers.
“After listening to he was one of many 1,459 followers who ended up within the away finish at Sutton – by full accident – we’re excited to point out him what a house recreation with the Shrimpers is all about.”
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