A young American tourist was taken under the collective wing of 150 beer-swilling football fans after he boarded the wrong boat.
Evan Johnston, 21, from Arizona, expected an hour-long sightseeing tour on the River Thames, when he embarked on a vessel at Tower Millennium Pier in London on Saturday.
But the student had unwittingly joined a boat trip chartered by a group of Southend United supporters before their National League game at Sutton United.
‘I slipped on the boat undetected’
“I had originally planned to board the river cruise boat for the hop-on-hop-off tour, which I assume was located on the same dock,” he told the Southend Echo. “The cruise would last an hour or so and then I planned to spend the rest of the day touring central London.
“I had some suspicions when I was in line to board behind all of the Southend fans, because they seemed to know each other and were making chants I didn’t understand.
“But I decided to board anyway because I figured if they checked tickets they would just turn me around… But they didn’t check tickets, so I slipped on the boat undetected.”
While some people might view a boat filled with football fans as a nightmare scenario, Mr Johnston, who is in London for six weeks as part of his studies, said he “had a blast”.
Andy Ward, one of the Southend supporters on board, told the The Echo: “Someone on the boat told me a young lad was on the wrong boat and I just wanted to make sure he was OK.
“When I found him he was drinking and dancing with other Southend fans and even though you could see he was nervous everyone was just trying to make him feel welcome.
“He said someone gave him a match ticket but was unsure whether to go. I said to him, ‘come with us’.”
After the boat docked at Blackfriars Pier, Mr Johnston joined the supporters on a train to Sutton for the match at VBS Community Stadium, which ended in a one-all draw.
⁠‘I’m a Southend fan till I die now’
“⁠I had a blast on the boat and at the Southend game,” said Mr Johnston, who is from Tempe, near Phoenix. “I had so much fun I plan to go to another Southend game next weekend and hopefully they can pull out the win. ⁠I’m a Southend fan till I die now. I never followed much football so this is the first team I actually cared about and I’m rooting for them now.”
Southend United have invited Mr Johnston to their next game, against Solihull Moors on Saturday, and will give him a tour of the stadium and the chance to meet some of the players.
