Pensioner flies from Turkey for first ever football match at South Shields

David Stott travelled from his home in Turkey to watch South Shields FC scoop their place at Wembley.

And, the 70-year-old was so thrilled with the match experience, he is now planning a return trip back to England for the final of the FA Vase in May.

He said: “Now I know what I’ve been missing, I’ve got the bug.”

South Shields stormed into the FA Vase Final with a 4-0 win over Coleshill Town.

At a packed Mariners Park, Shields sealed a first trip to Wembley, on May 21, with a 6-1 aggregate win.

David, a former off shore worker, who moved to Antalya in Turkey five years ago, said he was following all the interest in the club online from his friends and family back in South Tyneside and decided he should find out what the fuss was about and flew back to his native South Shields for the weekend game.

He said: “It was the first football match I have ever been to, I just wasn’t really interested before.

“But, I thought as South Shields were doing so well I would support them and they did a really good job on Saturday as well.

“Now, I am planning to return to England in May so I can go to the final, I am already sorting out my flights.”

Although he has watched a bit of football on the television, David said he had never been to a live game and the atmosphere was amazing.

He said: “The atmosphere was electric. The lads really put everything they had into it, they were trying so hard for their club.

“It was great that most of the fans knew the players by their first names.

“It was really something for me, it really was, every single person was just ecstatic, apart from the Coleshill fans of course.”

David said he and the rest of the town are certainly proud of the club’s achievement.