With red flags waved, Billy Joel yelling and the French coast in sight, a group of Liverpool fans refused to allow any flight cancellations between them and the Champions League final.
After his son’s friends’ easyJet flight to Paris was canceled, Paddy OToole decided to take matters into his own hands by flying a rigid inflatable boat across the Channel from Jersey.
With the help of friend Gary Brennan, the group of 12 embarked on a Redbay Stormforce 950 straight to Saint-Malo to arrive in Paris in time for Liverpool’s Champions League showdown with Real Madrid. “Boss way to get to Paris,” tweeted OToole, who said he even saw dolphins en route.
As they neared dry land, video footage showed them playing Billy Joel’s hit We Didn’t Start The Fire, and once they arrived in France they unfurled two Liverpool flags on the dock.
They then took the train to Rennes before heading to Paris. But, after going to so much trouble, OToole said, “We don’t have a ticket between us.
“My boy Patrick’s pals Adam and Tom Dring, who are from Huyton, had their easyJet flight canceled so their dad rushed them to Heathrow to try and get a flight but there was nothing. They flew to Jersey at the last minute and they met us and asked if we could take them to France,” he told the Liverpool Echo.
“We felt sorry for the young boys, so we had to do something.”
They were among tens of thousands of fans expected to arrive in the French capital ahead of tonight’s final. No less than 60,000 Liverpool supporters were to arrive in Paris on Saturday by bus, train, boat and plane.
