Lamin Yamal of FC Barcelona in Newcastle (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
A Barcelona fan was involved in an embarrassing mix-up when he traveled to the wrong stadium in England while trying to watch his team play in the Champions League on Tuesday night. The fan wanted to attend Barcelona’s match against Newcastle at St James’ Park in Newcastle, but by chance ended up about 600 kilometers away in Exeter, which also has a stadium called St James’ Park.
As a result, he missed the match in which Lamine Yamal scored a late goal to secure a 1-1 draw for Barcelona.Instead of watching a Champions League match, the fan found himself in a third-tier Premier League match between Exeter City and Lincoln City, which Lincoln won 1-0. The confused supporter apparently traveled from London and followed directions on his phone without realizing he was heading to the wrong city.
Exeter City staff quickly realized something was wrong when the fan arrived expecting to watch Barcelona play. Adam Spencer, the club’s fan experience officer, explained how they dealt with the unusual situation. “One of our volunteers came into the office to tell us that this man came expecting to see FC Barcelona,” he said.Spencer added that the fan’s limited English made it a bit difficult to understand what happened, but it became clear that he simply searched for ‘St James’ Park’ on his phone and followed the instructions.
“His English wasn’t great, but from what we could gather, he was coming from London. I think he put St James’ Park into his phone and then followed directions from there.”Al-Moayad was understandably disappointed when he realized his mistake. Spencer said: “He was very frustrated and a bit embarrassed. So, we sorted a ticket for him and he was able to watch the game at the real St James’ Park. He would be welcome any time.”Although he missed the Barcelona match, the fan ended up experiencing an unexpected night in English football.
