Football fans are generally passionate people.
And whether it is for the sport or something else, these fans often tend to show their
passion in stadiums and even the football pitch.
But sometimes, they just take it too far.
A few days back, we saw a typical example of a fan taking things too far in the Premier
League game between Everton and Newcastle.
And that, of course, is our number 1 today.
1.
The protester
Just a few minutes into the second half of the cracker between Everton and Newcastle,
a young man from the stands ran into the pitch and quickly attached his neck to Everton’s
upright with a zip tie.
Stewards immediately ran to try and release him, but that alone took a long, long time.
On the protester’s shirt were the words “just stop oil” and links to a website.
Apparently, the protest was for the government to end new fossil fuel supply projects.
After about 7 minutes, huge bolt cutters had to be fetched to release the fan and take
him away.
Honestly, that guy did it for a good cause, but you have to admit that risking your life
like that on the pitch is going a little too far.
Apparently, fans with similar causes and wearing similar shirts were spotted at both the Arsenal
vs Liverpool game on Wednesday and the Leeds vs Wolves game on Friday.
They both had the same aim to tie themselves to the goalposts, but neither received as
much air time.
Now from incidents that happened very recently to one that happened a long, long time ago.
2.
Scotland pitch raid
The Scotland and England football rivalry goes way, way back.
And more often than not when these two countries meet, the Three Lions come out as winners.
So, on this day in June 1977, when Scotland secured a 2-1 win against their neighboring
rivals on their own home soil, the Scots in the stadium went absolutely berserk.
They stormed onto the pitch to celebrate their national team’s historic win.
But they got so ecstatic that they became destructive.
Many of the fans uprooted portions of the Wembley pitch to take back with them as some
sort of souvenir from the memorable day.
Some fans focused on climbing the goal posts and even ended up damaging the crossbar.
It was absolute chaos that day; so bad that the competition that was played that day had
to be scrapped in its entirety a few years later.
3.
Jimmy Jump
If fans going too far were a person, it would be Jimmy Jump.
Guess we can categorically say that Jimmy is the most famous football invader the game
of football has ever seen.
And no, Vitaly does not come close.
There’s literally nothing Jimmy has not done or, at least, attempted to do.
And this guy doesn't really care about small fish.
He only goes for the big ones.
He has invaded the pitch in a Champions League semi final and final, Euros semi final, and
a World Cup final.
Speaking of the World Cup final, did you know that this guy tried to cap the World Cup trophy
back in 2010?
He ran into the pitch just before the match between Spain and The Netherlands began and
attempted to put a bar-retina on the top of the World Cup trophy.
Yes, a bar-retina.
You know, that cap traditionally worn by christian men in some parts of Europe.
And he very nearly succeeded.
He was apprehended just before he could get his hands on the trophy.
I mean, take a look at how close he got.
At first, authorities thought that he was trying to steal the trophy, but it was later
proven that he was only trying to put the cap on it.
4.
The jilted boyfriend
Now, this one did not happen in a famous football match, but it was just so funny that we couldn’t
leave it out.
This guy apparently had just been dumped by his girlfriend, so he was trying to pull off
a huge gesture to try and win her back.
And for his cause, he chose a non-league game between Eastleigh and Bolton Wanderers.
His plan, we believe, was to impress his ex by running into the pitch and putting the
ball in the back of the Bolton net.
You know, remind her that he is still the man.
Well, the first part of the plan worked.
He made his way onto the pitch successfully and even joined the players in a counter-attacking
move.
He got all the way to the 6-yard box.
But that was where his entire plan fell apart.
He slipped and fell before he got his kick and he was immediately apprehended and taken
away.
The shirt he had on had the words “dreams come true” printed across it.
But unfortunately, we can’t tell you if his dream of getting his ex back came true
after his failed mission that day.
5.
The parachutist
How much farther could a fan actually take it than invading a football pitch in a parachute?
Back in 2013, a man disrupted a game between Salisbury City and Chester by literally landing
on the field of play in a parachute.
We’re unsure whether the parachutist intended to invade the pitch in that unique manner,
but what we know is that, once he landed, he immediately got to packing up his parachute
and sauntered off the pitch to a resounding ovation from the crowd.
6.
The boxer
This one still has us confused till date.
When Birmingham City and Aston Villa faced off in the championship some years back, we
all expected it to be a hard-fought battle as it always is.
But the part we didn’t expect was for that fight to become literal.
But well, a Birmingham City fan named Mitchell seemed to really want that fight when he ran
onto the pitch and punched Jack Grealish in the jaw.
He jumped on the back of the former Aston Villa captain and threw that punch.
And like we said, we still cannot tell you why he did that.
Anyway, he was arrested and was sentenced to 14 weeks behind bars.
In addition to that, he was also fined 350 pounds and was handed a 10-year ban from football
games in the UK.
What a costly punch that was.
Thankfully, Grealish wasn’t hurt by it.
7.
The mourner
We end this list with one of the most dramatic and frankly, disturbing things a fan has done
at a football game in recent times.
Oh, you think you’ve heard something bizarre?
Wait till you hear about this one fan at the Racing Club vs Argentinos Juniors game in
February.
So, some fans who were in the stadium that day mentioned that, at some point, they felt
a sand-like substance falling on them from above during the game.
Many didn’t know what it was, but one fan revealed on social media that a portion of
a box from Burzaco Crematorium had landed on her along with the powdery substance.
Apparently, one of the fans in the stands that day was showering fans in the lower levels
with the ashes of his late friend who passed away only days prior.
In case anyone wanted to doubt her, the fan’s story was quickly corroborated with a video
from another fan who was present.
This time, the person showering the ashes was caught on camera doing his business in
the stadium.
Nah, this is the height.
Just imagine being at the stadium, shouting at the top of your lungs and enjoying a goal
your team just scored, and you end up with some portion of someone’s late friend in
your mouth.
That would be such a maddening experience.
Even though we think fans can’t possibly go any farther than this, share with us in
the comments if you have some wild stories about fans going too far that can rival these
ones in this video today.
We will be looking out for your comments.
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